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Presents... 3 Check It Out! 4 How Many Fish? 5 SOS 6 Counting Is for the Birds 8 10 Fun Number Facts 10 Number 13, Unlucky? 11 Math to Move a Giraffe 12 The Infinity Inn 14 Puzzles 16 Max & Gracie 17 A Hot Science Trick 18 90 Pounds of Food a Day 20 We’re Hot About Numbers! 21 Drawing with Numbers 22 Magical Number Nine 23 10 Facts About Number 10 24 Crazy Numbers 25 Squared Away! 26 It’s a Numbers Game 28 A World of Numbers 29 Kids Corner 30 Puzzle Solutions 2
How old are you? When is your birthday? What day of the month is it? If there were no numbers, you wouldn’t know how old you are. And if there were no calendars with dates on them, we wouldn’t know when to celebrate your birthday. Do you play soccer or another team sport? If you do, then you probably have a shirt with a number on it to wear. This way, you can be identified when you are playing a game. What if there were no numbers? How would we identify players easily, and how would we keep score? In this issue, there are animal stories where numbers are needed. Do you know how to count a flock of birds or a school of fish? You will discover that and more. There are puzzles, riddles, and cartoons, all with numbers and even a couple of tricks to try on your family and friends. They will be impressed by you! Settle back in a comfortable chair and have a pencil handy. You’ll also learn how to draw cartoons with just numbers. There is something fun for everyone! And numbers can be lots of fun!
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If you think counting large numbers of animals could be difficult, imagine trying to count live fish. This information is needed to see how the number of a particular kind of fish changes from year to year. Many biologists use electrofishing equipment for counting fish. A special form of electricity is sent into the water. It attracts and stuns the fish momentarily. In that brief moment, the crew on the boat captures the fish in a net. The fish are placed in a holding tank on the boat. Once the fish are revived, the crew weighs, measures, and tags them. Then they are released back into the water. During one pass down a river, about ten percent of the fish are caught and counted. After the tagged fish have been back in the water for a week or more, a second pass is made through the same section of water. The fish caught the second time are divided between the tagged and untagged fish. Both are counted. Biologists are able to estimate the actual number of fish living in the river by comparing the number of tagged and untagged fish caught.
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by Beverly McLoughland illustrated by Dan Fry Sammy’s head is pounding. Sammy’s in pain. A long division’s got Stuck in his brain. Call for the locksmith. Call the engineer. Call for the plumber To suck out his ear. Call the brain surgeon To pry out the mess. Call out the Coast Guard SOS Because Sammy’s head is pounding. Sammy is in pain. A long division’s got Stuck in his brain.
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Counting Is for the Birds by Shirley Anne Ramaley
Wildlife biologists need to know the numbers of birds of the various species. This helps them determine the health of bird populations. If there is a flock of birds flying, and the total number is low, it is possible to just count them. But if the numbers of birds in one flock are huge, how do you count them, especially as they are flying? What if you need to know the numbers of each species, and the flock has several species flying together? Fortunately, there are now many ways to count these birds and get accurate numbers. If the flock of birds isn’t too big, with practice, you can learn to count the numbers in groups of five or 10, instead of one by one. If the flock is a big one, biologists can use a method called “blocking” or the “grid technique.” Using a photograph, the whole flock is divided into grids. The numbers of birds in one grid are counted individually, or as close to one by one as is possible. The total number of birds in one grid is then multiplied by the total number of grids. For example, if there are 10 grids and the one grid that was counted has 100 birds, then 10x100 = 1000. If the entire flock can be photographed with a digital camera, an accurate total number of birds can be figured. The photograph can be printed and each bird counted individually. This can take a long time if the flock is an especially big one.
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What if there are several kinds of birds in the flock and the biologists need to know the total numbers of each kind? Again, using the grid technique, each individual species is counted. Then the total numbers are multiplied by the total number of grids. There are other methods, too, including using a timing count when a large flock is flying fast. Often a remote camera is used with a timer. It may seem strange, but the health of birds may depend on numbers. If the number of birds in a species suddenly drops, biologists may figure out what is causing this.
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