Giant Panda Lapbook

Lapbook by Ami
with ideas and research contributed by Carisa Hinson
photos of Elijah Brainerd's lapbook

*includes a blank template on the last page for older students

Resource Links
True/False Quiz with Answers
Panda Maze
Tian Tian Minibook
Giant Panda Book (from Enchanted Learning)
Diagram of a Panda (from Enchanted Learning)
Panda Palace Printable Paper Toy
Panda Pita Pocket Recipe

Research and Answers
Hopefully, you'll be able to find answers/information for the minit 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 minit 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)
Eyes
Color
Size
Paws
Teeth
Fur

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 (information from http://www.sandiegozoo.org)

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

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