Below are some amazing facts about animals that you might not know.  Each time you find a measurement in English units, covert it to metric units using dimensional analysis.  Show each step underneath the facts.  See "Tips for Calculating").  The first one is done for you.

Bullfrogs have big appetites. An adult bullfrog, which is 8 inches or ____ centimeters long, has been known to eat a poisonous coral snake that was 17 inches or ____ centimeters in length.  Imagine eating something twice as tall as you!

      8 inches  X  2.54cm = 20.3 cm
                         1 in

Imagine 35,000 bees swarming around your chest and throat  to form a "beard of bees".  This is a record held by James Johnson of West Virginia.  The bees weight 10 pounds, a ____ kilogram.
 
 
 
 

Little or nothing that is too slow to escape is safe from a herd of army ants.  These ants, which are about 1 inch, or __centimeters long, travel in columns that may be 300 yards (____meters) in length.  Army ants have eaten a tethered horse alive - leaving only the skeleton!
 
 
 
 
 

Camels can drink 108 quarts (___liters) of water in 10 minutes!  Some camels have survived a 34-day journey of 537 miles, or ___ kilometers, without any water except for the dew on vegetation.
 
 
 
 
 

Brown bear cubs are hairless, toothless, and blind at birth.  They have a weight under 24 ounces (___grams) and are about 8 inches, or __ centimeters long.  At one year old, their mass has increased to 53 pounds or ___kilograms.
 
 
 
 
 

The blue whale is the largest animal alive today.  Up to 100 feet ( __ meters) long, a blue whale may have a mass of 135 tons, or ___ kilograms.
 
 
 
 
 
 

(stories from Prentice Hall 2000)
 

Answers see below
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bullfrogs
    8 inches  X  2.54cm/1 in = 20.3 cm

    17 inches X 2.54cm/1 in  = 43.2 cm

Bees
    10 lbs  X  1kg/2.2lbs = 4.6 kg         lbs = pounds

Ants
    1 inch X 2.54 cm/1 in = 2.54 cm

    300 yards X 1 meter/1.09 yds = 275 meters

Camel
    108 quart X 1 Liter/1.06qt = 102 L

    537 miles X 1 kilometer/ 0.62 mi = 866 km

Bears
    8 inches X 2.54 cm/1 inch =20.32cm
 
    53 lbs X 1 kilogram/2.2  lbs  = 24.1 kg    lbs = pounds

Whales
    100 ft X 12  inches/1 foot   X 1 m /39.37 inches = 30.5 meters

    135 tons X  2000 lbs / 1 ton X 1 kg / 2.2  lbs  = 122,227.3 kg      lbs = pounds