Panda power!

     Hey all! I'm back with another blog for an Action Project, more specifically my class Population. We've been studying different organisms and their environments. We also have been doing math that is quantitative, which means we've been using multiple numbers, many of which are big, to calculate something. We've visit science labs to see scientists do lab work, museums to see ancestors of different animals, and just explore the idea of evolution. For this Action Project, we were tasked on picking an animal and analyzing it. We were to research the animal, choose at least four traits it has, calculate something relating to the animal (i.e. weight, height, how much it eats, etc.) and make a box and whiskers graph with that information, and then put that animal into a different environment than the one they're usually in. This is mine, so I hope you like it!

Chensiyuan. “Panda Trio Sichuan China Autumn 2011 Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.” Wikimedia Commons, 13 Nov. 2011,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1_panda_trio_sichuan_china_2011.jpg 

      

 The organism I chose to do is the panda, more specifically the giant panda. The giant panda is native to China, more specifically Central China, where bamboo forests are located. In fact, bamboo is its main food source. The panda can eat for as long as 18-24 hours. The panda, however, is a relative of the bear family. This may make you start asking questions, things like why is their fur black and white? If they're bears, could they be omnivorous? If pandas can eat for nearly an entire day, how much can they eat? I'll answer these questions right now.

Q: Why are panda's fur black and white (and other shades of grey)?

A: In a study, the reason may be because they can blend into the environment they're in easier. 

Q: Can pandas be omnivorous?

A: While they belong in the carnivore family, and eat mainly bamboo, which is a plant, they are be omnivores. 

Q: How many pounds can pandas eat in a day?

A: This is gonna be a lot, so bear with me. 

From my research, I found the range to be around 150-280. That's all good and well, but I decided to take random numbers from that range and calculate mean, variance, and standard deviation. 

For my random numbers, I chose 150, 154, 163. 172, 181, 193, 202, 212, 227, 238, and 270. I first added all of these up and divided the sum by 11 (since that's how many numbers there are). I then got 196.54... but rounded to 197 just for clarity's sake. I then subtracted every number every number in the set I had chosen by 197, then squared the differences. All together, I got  8,942. I then divide it by 10 (which is the degrees of freedom. and how you get that is n-1) to get 894. That is how you get variance.

Now, to get standard deviation, all you need to do is get the square root of the variance. So, I got the square root of 894, which is about 30!

 Now that that's over with, we can get onto something a bit simpler: box and whiskers plots! These are basically a way to visualize the lowest and highest points of a set, the lower and upper quartile (the median of the lower and higher parts of the set respectively), and the median. 

The median of this set is 193! Simple, right? We then section off all numbers before and after 193 to get the upper and lower quartile. The lower quartile for this set is 163, while the upper quartile is 227. The smallest value is 150, and the biggest is 270. This is how the box and whiskers plot looks like:

Whew, that was a lot of math. Let's back to actually talking about pandas now. 

    As I've said before, pandas are locating in Central China, is bamboo forests high on mountains. While they are apart of the bear family, they obviously do not eat meat and instead consume bamboo. But what else can keep them alive? Well, here are some traits they have!

- Probably their more noticeable trait, their enlarged wrist-bone. This acts like a surrogate thumb, allowing pandas to hold and eat bamboo among other things.

- The panda's fur can keep it warm and camouflaged in its environment, allowing it to survive and protect its young. 

- Despite its size, pandas can climb pretty well! At 5 months old, some cubs start learning how to climb.

- Much like its relatives, pandas can swim!

   Kezic, Predrag. “Panda Cub Widelife,” Pixabay, 2016, pixabay.com/photos/panda-cub-wildlife-zoo-cute-china-1203104/.

    We all know about how pandas can live in bamboo forests, but what about another environment. Another, completely different one than it's used to? How about.. the savanna?  \

    Onw big issue right away is their big fur. It not only makes them stick out like a sore thumb, but it'll make them overheat! It is built for more colder climates. Another big thing is that it probably won't make use of its ability to swim. Its thumb-like write bones and its ability to climb might help, but it doesn't stop the overheating from happening. So, as much as you hate to see it, pandas probably would not survive in the savanna.

This project was definitely one I started to like. Throughout the class and, more specifically this project, I felt like I definitely was being pushed. I felt like I had to put more effort than I'd usually put for these types of things, and it was nice! It exhausted me but I enjoyed it a lot. 

Works Cited

Bradford, Alina. “Giant Panda Facts.” Live Science, Live Science, 26 Sept. 2014, www.livescience.com/27335-giant-pandas.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2021.

Kezic, Predrag. “Panda Cub Widelife,” Pixabay, 2016, pixabay.com/photos/panda-cub-wildlife-zoo-cute-china-1203104/.

Lindburg, Donald G. “Giant Panda | Facts, Habitat, Population, & Diet.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 May 2018, www.britannica.com/animal/giant-panda. Accessed 24 Oct. 2021.

Shik, Holly. “Scientists Unlock Secrets behind the Giant Panda’s Distinctive Colouring.” South China Morning Post, 28 Oct. 2021, www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3154022/why-are-giant-pandas-black-and-white-scientists-unlock-secrets. Accessed 29 Oct. 2021.

WWF. “Giant Panda | Species | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, 2000, www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda. Accessed 24 Oct. 2021.