Lesson: Raising Red Pandas

Play the video “Red Panda-monium.” Then, before or after reading the article, spark a discussion based on the following questions:

• Make a list of animal species that you know or think are endangered. What are some reasons that these species are endangered?
• How can scientists help increase a species’ population?

• What does partial mean? (Answers will vary. Possible answers: part of, incomplete, not whole)
• What is a quotient? (the answer to or result of a division problem)
• We can use partial quotients to divide large numbers. This is a step-by-step method of division where at each step, a partial answer is found to get the final quotient.
  

• What was the dividend multiplied by to find the first partial quotient, 7,000? (1,000) Why do you think they chose this multiple? (Answers will vary.)
• After you find a partial quotient, what's the next step? (Subtract it from the dividend until you reach 0.)
• How was the final quotient calculated? (the partial quotients of 1,000 and 300 were added together)
• Other than division, what operations are used in the partial quotients method? (multiplication, addition, subtraction)
• If you had a number left over that was less than the divisor, what would that represent? (the remainder)

Have students complete problems 1 through 4 on page 9 of the article.

Skills Sheets: Level Down: Standard Algorithm of Division (4.NBT.B.6; 4.4F) | On Level: DynaDash: Partial Quotients Division (4.NBT.B.6; 4.4F) | Level Up: Dividing Large Numbers With Partial Quotients (5.NBT.B.6; 5.3C)

SEL (Social-emotional learning activity/prompt): The scientists in this article helped raise and care for red panda cubs. Have students think about the people in their lives that take care of them. Tell them to choose one person and write a letter thanking that person for their care.

Dynamath@Home: Have students create a 3-digit number without using the same number twice. This will be their dividend. Then have them use a sheet of paper to make a table with 3 columns. In each column, ask students to divide their dividend by 2, 4, and 8 using the partial quotients method. Then ask students to record any patterns they observed.