Giant Pandas
Research and Lessons
Hopefully, you'll be able to find answers/information for the mini-books from
books you check out from the library. However, if you aren't able to get any books
about giant pandas, or if you are unable to locate certain information to complete
a mini-book, you should find it below.
Brown Bears vs. Panda Bears Venn Diagram
characteristics unique to panda bears
*cat-like eyes (with slits)
*front paws have an opposable thumb
Panda bears can't do some things that other bears do including walking on their
hind legs and roaring.
Giant pandas are similar to other bears in their general looks, the way they walk
and climb, and their skull characteristics.
Question Answer Matchbooks
1. What do the Chinese call Pandas? "large bear-cats"
2. How many hours each day does a Panda eat? 12!
3. What is a panda's habitat like? damp, misty forests of bamboo and conifers, in
altitudes above 4,000 feet (1,200 meters)
Panda Family
Female pandas are called sows, males are called boars, and the young are called
cubs.
Panda Anatomy
(see Panda Information at Enchanted Learning)
Range
In the wild, giant pandas only live in six small forest fragments found in mountain
ranges in central and western China, mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu
provinces.
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (the animals)
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata (animals with backbones)
Class Mammalia (warm-blooded animals with hair and mammary glands)
Order Carnivora
Family Ursidae (Bears)
Genus and Species: Ailuropoda melanoleuca meaning "cat feet black white"
Let's Make Some Noise!
Pandas have eleven different calls. They make a bleating sound similar to the
sound a lamb or a goat kid would make. It's a friendly sound, a greeting. They also
honk, huff, bark, and growl; young cubs croak and squeal.
Numbers
There are roughly 1,000-1,500 pandas living in the wild (in China). There are about
120 living in zoos and breeding centers around the world.
Endangerment
Reasons why pandas are in danger of extinction:
1. Low reproductive rate— Pandas like to be by themselves most of the year, and
they have a very short breeding season when a male will look for a female to
mate with. Females give birth to one or two cubs, which are very dependent on
their mothers during the first few years of life. In the wild, mother pandas will
care for only one of the young. In panda facilities in China, keepers help to hand
raise any twin cubs. One baby is left with the mother and the keepers switch the
twins every few days so each one gets care and milk directly from the mother.
2. Bamboo shortages— When bamboo plants reach maturity, they flower and
produce seeds, and then the mature plant dies. The seeds grow slowly into plants
large enough for pandas to eat. Giant pandas can eat 25 different types of
bamboo, but they usually eat only the 4 or 5 kinds that grow in their home range.
The unusual thing about bamboo is that all of the plants of one species growing in
an area will bloom and die at the same time. When those plants die, pandas move
to another area. But now, with humans taking up much of the panda’s habitat,
pandas are often unable to move to another area and may face starvation.
3. Habitat destruction— China has more than one billion people. As people build
more cities and farms and use more natural resources, giant pandas lose their
homes.
4. Hunting— When hunters set snares for other animals, like musk deer, the traps
often kill pandas instead.
Baby Giant Pandas
Other than marsupials, they are the smallest newborn mammal. Little giant
pandas are white and about the size of a stick of butter at birth weighing 4-6
ounces (lighter than an apple!), and they're hairless and helpless. The panda
mother gives great care to her tiny cub, usually cradling it in one paw and holding
it close to her chest. For several days after birth, the mother does not leave the
den, not even to eat or drink! Even though a cub receives great care, many young
pandas do not survive.
Birth- cry when they are hungry or need care
One Month old- their coats take on adult coloring
Six-Seven Weeks Old- their eyes open
Three Months Old- they follow their mother
Six Months Old- they begin eating bamboo
Nine Months Old- they are weaned from mother's milk
Panda cubs grow very slowly. They stay with their mother for one to two years.
They are fully grown in 2-4 years.
Diet
Pandas have the most specialized diet of any of the bears which includes (almost
exclusively) two types of bamboo (arrow and umbrella). In order to survive, a
panda needs 40-80 pounds of food each day! This is due to the fact that bamboo
is low in nutrition. Bamboo is also hard to digest. A giant panda's throat and
stomach have tough linings to protect them from the toughness of the bamboo.
Other than bamboo, giant pandas also eat grasses, bulbs, fruit, some insects,
rodents, and carrion. At zoos, pandas are offered bamboo, carrots, yams, and
special leaf eater biscuits made of grain and packed with vitamins and minerals.
Answers for Comparison Book (panda answers provided)
1. bamboo
2. less than a pound (or 4-8 ounces)
3. 35 years old
4. apple
5. about 1,500
6. 12
Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school use.
Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically.
© Homeschool Share
Cut book out as one piece. Fold each triangle under. Lift and write an explanation of each reason.
When you are finished, you should fold the book in half (on the solid black center line) and paste the
back of the book into your lapbook.
Use answers provided on next page for a younger student to cut/paste under the triangles, if desired.
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As people build more
cities and farms and use
more natural resources,
giant pandas lose their
homes.
Females only give birth to
one or two cubs at a time.
The mother (in the wild will
only take care of only one
of the young.
All the bamboo in one ar- When hunters set snares
ea blooms and dies at the for other animals the traps
same time leaving the
often kill pandas instead.
panda without any food.
Pandas don’t have
anywhere to go to find
bamboo since so much of
their habitat has been
destroyed.
Directions: Pandas live in Asia in the country of China. Find China on the map of
Asia and color it.
Cut out cover piece on this page. Cut out book on next page as one piece. Fold in
half. Glue cover piece on the front.
Where in the
World Can I
Find a Giant
Panda?
Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus &
Species
Cut book out on solid lines. Fold on dotted.
Glue the back of the flap book down to the inside of the cover book.
Let your student write the correct classification information behind each flap.
Giant Panda
Classification
Information
Fold paper in half on dotted line. Cut around panda bear shape. Use shape book to
record information about the sounds that panda bears make.
My
Story
Cut books out. Fold matchbook style.
What do the
Chinese
people
call pandas?
How many
hours each
day does a
panda eat?
What is a panda’s habitat like?
coloring
Anatomy
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
eyes
size
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
Cut out all the shapes (seven total). Let
your student record information about
as many different aspects of the
panda’s anatomy as you desire. When
finished, stack together with cover
(“Anatomy”) on top and attach a brass
fastener where indicated.
If you don’t have a brass fastener, you
can simply use a staple.
paws
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
teeth
fur
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
______________
_______________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
coloring
Anatomy
eyes
size
Cut out all the shapes (seven total). Let
your student record information about
as many different aspects of the
panda’s anatomy as you desire. When
finished, stack together with cover
(“Anatomy”) on top and attach a brass
fastener where indicated.
paws
If you don’t have a brass fastener, you
can simply use a staple.
teeth
fur
Cut book out on solid lines. Fold on dotted. Write answers under flaps.
How many
How many
How many
Giant Pandas
Giant Pandas
Giant Pandas
are living in
are living in
are living in
zoos?
the wild?
the world?
Cut out book as one piece. Fold in half. Record information about the giant panda’s diet in the book.
Family
Names
Cut book on this page out as one piece.
Fold in half. Cut books (3) on the next page
out by cutting on the solid black lines. Let
your student write the name for each giant
panda family member in the appropriate
book.
Fold books in half. Paste into the big book
Father Mother Baby
Cut book out as one piece (do not cut shapes apart). Fold in thirds with the panda on the cover. On the inside
of the book write K on the left side, W on the middle, and L on the left.
Before you start the unit, record what your student KNOWS on the K page.
Ask your student what he WANTS TO LEARN and record that on the W page.
At the end of the unit, record what your student has LEARNED on the L page.
both
panda bear
Cut out book as one piece. Fold in half on the black line. Cut on the dotted lines to form three flaps. Write information that is unique to the brown bear
under the left flap, information unique to the giant panda bear under the right flap, and information true about both animals under the middle flap.
brown bear
Cub
Facts
Cut book out as one piece. Fold in half. Cut on dotted lines to form flaps. Cut out cover on the previous page as
one piece. Fold in half. Glue the back of the flap book down to the inside of the cover book.
Let your student write the correct information about baby pandas behind each flap.
Newborn
1 month old
6-7 weeks old
3 months old
6 months old
9 months old
Glue this side to the back
of the last page on the first
strip
Glue this side to the back
of the last page on the
second strip
Cut out the three strips. Glue as indicated so that you have one long line. Fold accordion style (back and forth, back and
forth). Attach a piece of yard or ribbon around the book and tie it in a bow on the front. Glue the back down to your
lapbook. Your student can open/close the book by tying/untying the string. It will pull out like an accordion.