- Today on Extra Credit: Do your dog's paws smell like Frito's?

Plus a writing challenge involving banana-flavored toothpaste and a car shaped like a cow.

Are you up for the challenge?

Stay tuned.

(upbeat rock music) (music fades) (guitar note plays) - Welcome to Extra Credit where we meet interesting people, explore new ideas, and discover fun places to gather.

Each episode will introduce you to people who use math, science, sports, writing, and the arts to make the world an interesting place.

Our theme today is animals.

Who loves animals?

Me too.

Before we get started, I want you to meet someone special.

- Hi, friends.

Do you know who takes care of animals when they get sick?

The word is veterinarians.

Dr. Marcia Backstrom is a veterinarian in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

She became a vet because she loves animals and science.

Let's go meet her.

(upbeat electronic music) (chimes ring) - The most rewarding part of my job is not only allowing the pets to get better, the ones that come to us that are sick or injured, but also to see the pet owners when their pet does get better.

We send them home feeling so much better.

I mean, the pets are part of their family, so their gratitude toward us is amazing.

During my childhood, I actually tried to make my own business of dog-walking, and my parents loved it.

My mom actually made pens for me that said my name, phone number, and it said "Dog Walker" that I could hand out to our neighbors, and I think my dad still might have a couple of those pens, but that was something that I, that was probably the first job I tried to give myself.

Young girls can volunteer to take care of animals by visiting their local shelter and see if they can help out there.

A lot of times they'll have volunteers walk the dogs and feed them and help change their cages and clean up after them and just playing with them too, just giving them some more interaction throughout their days.

There are also other clinics, vet clinics, that you could visit that may need help in their kennel, where you can do similar things like walk the dogs and have some experiences there.

We do have a lot of animals that come in that are very scared and may be difficult to approach, but knowing how to work with animals is really important and usually includes going slowly with them, making sure that they know you're not going to hurt them, and our technicians that we work with, which are basically like nurses, they have amazing experiences, and they are very comfortable with handling pets that might be a little bit more scared than the typical pet, and just going slow with them, and knowing how to restrain an animal is very important because you can make them feel safe, and you can keep them secure so that if they do jump, then they're not going to get hurt by what you're trying to do with them.

I decided to become a veterinarian because I love animals, and I also have had an interest in medicine, so it's a great mix, and there's also a lot of opportunity as a veterinarian.

A lot of people think of just, you know, small animal vet, large animal vet, but there's so many other things that you could do, other specialties you can go into.

You can work for public health.

You can work for the government.

There's a wide variety of different paths you can take, and research is one that I really enjoyed going through school as well, and that's also another path you can take as a veterinarian.

Probably the best advice I could give would be to be a well-rounded person, which basically means being involved in a variety of different things, whether it's doing some sports while you're going through school or being involved in music or different clubs that are available at the school and any leadership opportunity that comes your way like being part of a committee in school.

I think all those things can make you a well-rounded person and can give you the experiences that will make you succeed.

You can learn time management and be able to juggle a variety of things at the same time.

(upbeat electronic music) - Yuki, you smell like a Frito.

She smells like a Frito.

(quirky music) Tell me what your dog's paw smells like.

- Without a doubt, corn chips.

(laughter) - Cheetos.

- Cheetos.

- (laughs) Okay.

- You asked earlier talking of the cheesiness, I feel like it's not cheesy.

I feel like it's corn chips.

- Mine's a little more, Yeah, Yuki's is a little more corny as well.

- Normally they're like full Cheetos.

- Yeah, or popcorn.

- I had George and Andrew do the same, and they had a slightly different take.

- Hello, dog.

You know, to be honest, I'm not getting a ton of Frito.

- Yeah, smells like stale urine on a dirty sidewalk.

- After smelling Yuki's paws and hassling my friends and coworkers to do the same, I went down a real rabbit hole, and I found that people kinda post about this a lot and not just on Twitter or Reddit.

There are veterinarians writing blog posts about this.

I reached out to one of those veterinarians, and asked, "Why the corn chip smell?"

- Dogs and cats both have normal bacteria and normal yeast that lives on the skin.

It's supposed to be there.

It's important for keeping the skin healthy.

Sometimes, those bacteria will gobble up some of the things that the skin makes, like fat, and the bacteria eat that lipid or that fat, and when they do that, they release chemicals or compounds or odorants, whatever you want to call them, that smell a certain way.

- What those compounds are isn't fully understood at this point, but research in humans can give us some clues.

The yeast in bacteria that you find on our skin is not identical to what you'd find on a cat or a dog, but we produce oils that when broken down probably lead to a lot of the same odorant compounds.

- And so, in human medicine, they do know that when the bacteria gobble up the short-chain fatty acids, which are a type of lipid or fat in the skin, that they produce a compound, and it's called 3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid.

- Okay.

- And then that gets further broken down and hydrolyzed into compounds that smell like that kind of rancid or cheesy, musky smell.

- We naturally produce oils, or fatty acids, that keep our skin hydrated and healthy.

Cats and dogs do the same.

Bacteria can break down those fatty acids into compounds that smell, and if you're sweaty, the bacteria might have even more fatty acids to work with.

Researchers found that a bacterial species in the Corynebacterium genus produces enzymes that release fatty acids specifically found in human underarm sweat.

These fatty acids were the one Amelia mentioned, Trans-3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid, as well as 3-hydroxy-3-methyl hexanoic acid.

Both are known for having a kind of rancid, cheesy smell.

So why don't we all just smell like those rancid, cheesy compounds, especially after we sweat?

Well, lots of reasons.

One, we usually have time to shower before those bacteria start multiplying and breaking down fatty acids.

Two, those are only two compounds out of dozens, maybe hundreds, that we produce, and so there might be other ones that are giving off a more noticeable smell.

Three, we don't have paws or ears like our pets, which are the perfect breeding ground for yeast and bacteria.

You heard that right.

Frito ears are also a thing.

- The ear and the feet, they're warm places; they're warmer.

They're darker.

They're more foldy, and so the skin is a little bit more humid in those areas, and that is a great breeding ground for bacteria and for yeast.

- A warm dark spot means more bacteria can grow, causing more smelly fatty acids to be released.

So if your dog loves swimming, they might have wet paws all the time which means they might have more intense Frito paw smell.

Amelia says, "Don't worry about it, not a big deal, unless the smell is super overwhelming without the dog's paw being in your face."

I told my team, when I mention this idea, I told them, like, "Oh, yeah, of course I smell my dog's paws," and they were like, "That's weird of you."

(laughs) - Yeah, I mean, most people would be like, "Okay.

That's a little cuckoo."

- Are you ready for Dr. Botch's brand new writing challenge?

Now you're probably thinking, who's that?

Well, Dr. Blotch is an editor who is currently socially isolated in their Antarctica mansion.

Dr. Blotch is a big fan of mold, turnips, money, being right, good stories, and toenail clippings.

And Dr. Blotch is bored right now because they forgot to visit libraries before they closed.

Dr. Blotch will be a regular friend who calls in and demands new creative stories from us.

Our challenge this week involves five random unrelated items like a moldy shoelace, banana-flavored toothpaste, a car shaped like a cow, and a smushed bowl of peas.

Yeah, I told you they were random.

Now if you're up for the challenge, let's see what Dr. Blotch has in store for us today.

(upbeat electronic music) (eerie music begins) - [Dr. Blotch] Well, I don't want people just writing whatever they want cause I don't really trust any of you, so I think we'll do a challenge.

Does that sound good?

I like to have a challenge.

I like people to feel pressure to do things.

It makes people work harder.

Maybe, how about the first challenge?

How about this?

I want, I want the children, I want them to think of, like, five random, just totally unrelated items.

You know, it could be like a, uh, moldy shoelace, or a banana-flavored toothpaste, a car shaped like a cow, or, I don't know, something you eat like a, like a smushed bowl of peas.

- Ew.

Gross.

All right, so they think of those five things, and then what do they do with them?

- [Dr. Blotch] Well, You ask a lot of questions, Megan.

Just give me one second.

I want to have those five things.

I think you'll try to write a story that will include all of those things in the story.

Now not just one of those things, not just two of those things, I think the story, the challenge is that the story, it has to include all of those things even though those things don't seem to have a lot in common.

Do you think that the children can do this?

- I think so.

So, Dr. Blotch, we actually do something like this at our tutoring program, and we call it the writing challenge too.

- [Dr. Blotch] Yes, I thought of that too!

- Be up for it.

I think they'll be up for it, Dr. Blotch.

- [Dr. Blotch] Yes, okay.

That sounds good.

I really need these stories.

- Okay, we'll get to work.

- [Dr. Blotch] Okay.

- Hang on.

We'll get to work.

- [Dr. Blotch] Goodbye, Megan.

- Thank you.

(eerie music) (upbeat electronic music) - What is the role of a chicken on a farm?

And how is a chicken connected to the rest of the living things around us?

Our chickens help us on the farm by providing eggs, meat, and companionship.

Let's check out the nesting boxes in this coop.

Chickens will get cozy in the nesting box to lay their eggs.

(chickens clucking) This is a good place for them to brood and care for them.

Look what do we see here?

(chicken clucking) Eggs, still very warm.

(chickens clucking) Let's check and see if there are any here, if she's laid any to, Oh!

There we see she's laying on two eggs, keeping them warm.

What is inside the egg anyway?

For this investigation, you'll need a chicken egg, brown or white.

You'll need a bowl.

You'll need a paper towel or a second bowl, and then optional is a toothpick and a magnifying lens.

Let's take a close look at an egg.

You can see with your eyes the bumpy grainy texture of the outer shell.

If you have a magnifying lens, you may be able to see tiny holes or pores in the shell.

Our first step is to carefully tap the egg's hard shell against a table to crack the egg gently.

We're going to use our fingers to slowly carefully remove the shell piece by piece and see how far we can get before the membrane tears.

(eggshell cracking) (energetic music) When the membrane does tear, which it will, we're going to gently allow the egg contents to go into our bowl, trying our best not to break the yolk.

(eggshell cracking) (energetic music) Here we can see the outer shell, and we can see the membrane.

The membrane is a very thin but very flexible and strong coating just inside the egg.

It's, much like our skin, made of keratin.

If you look in the bottom of the larger end of the egg, you may see what we call the air cell.

It's a bubble with air.

It's formed at the time the egg is laid.

You can press your finger gently and feel the bubble.

Now let's look at the bowl with the yolk and the albumen.

Try to find a division between the thin, clear albumen and the thick albumen.

Albumen is 90 percent water and 10 percent protein.

How can you tell the difference between the thick and the thin albumen?

What does it look like?

How is the color or the consistency different?

Next, we're going to look at something called the chalazae.

Those are two twisted white strands.

They are either running underneath the yolk or extending out at either end of the yolk.

See if you might be able to separate them, but you can at least see they're actually made of protein, twisted strands, and they help keep the yolk suspended between the two eggs.

The yolk would have been food for the baby chick.

If you look closely, you may see a white dot on the surface of the yolk.

This is known as the germinal disc.

Take your toothpick.

Very gently poke the yolk without breaking it, and you'll feel another membrane.

This membrane is called the vitelline membrane.

It's a clear casing that keeps the yolk all contained.

The yolk itself has protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

All right, your last step is to pick up your bowl, rest it just above your second bowl, and pour your egg into your hand.

Now you're going to pour your egg back and forth, and let the albumen go through your fingers or between your hands, and keep the yolk in the palms of your hand.

Now let the yolk roll back and forth between your palms.

Just what does that feel like?

What does it remind you of?

Eventually that vitelline membrane would become dry and would break, and then the yolk breaks.

Congratulations!

You've just completed your egg dissection.

It's time to clean up your area.

Make sure you dispose of your egg specimen and the paper into the trash can.

Clean your bowls.

Especially wash down your table and your counters, and then wash your hands thoroughly with warm soapy water for 20 seconds or more.

So let's think about what we experienced today.

Are the eggs we have fragile or strong?

What do you think?

What about the other living things on the farm?

How are chickens connected to them?

(chickens clucking) We already watched our chickens eating some of our insects and plants.

(chickens clucking) Chickens also provide manure, a fancy way to say poop.

This poop can be put in a compost pile, and after it's sat for a while, we can use it in our garden to provide food for our plants.

Here on the farm, we call this the nutrient cycle: when matter and energy are transferred and exchanged between different living things.

Energy from the sun is used by our plants to make their own food.

Our animals, including our goats, our chickens, and our decomposers, the worms, eat plants to stay alive.

In turn, our animals provide food in the form of manure to feed our plants.

Thanks so much for joining us at MSU Tollgate Farm.

(upbeat electronic music) (rooster crowing) (music ends) (pencil scratching) (birds chirping) (child laughing) - Welcome to InPACT at Home where we practice interrupting sitting with activity.

I'm Tiwa Ajibewa.

- And I'm Lexie Beemer, and we're here to help get you moving for the next eight minutes.

You'll be surprised at what these moments of movement can do for you and the rest of your family, so you can stay active and healthy at home.

- So go ahead, get up, and let's start moving.

- For this movement activity, we're going to be doing as many reps as possible.

So we're going to be doing 20 line jumps, 10 lunges, and 5 push-ups.

So to do a line jump, we're going to pretend like a line is in front of us or you can put a towel or a pillow, and you're just going to jump forward and back over that line or over that object 20 total times.

And then for the second movement, we're going to be doing 10 lunges, five on each side.

So again, remember when you step forward, you want your knee to stay behind your toe, and you want your shin to be vertical in a straight line.

Great job!

And then the third movement is five push-ups.

We're going to come to the ground.

You can do these on your knees, so knees on the ground, lower your chest to the floor, and push back up, or you can do them on your toes, so lower your chest to the floor, and push back up.

Great job.

And so we're going to be trying to go through this circuit as many times as possible, and Tiwa's going to keep track on this whiteboard behind us, and you guys can keep track at home.

So each round, we'll put a one.

Great job.

All right, are you ready to get started, Tiwa?

- Yes, I am.

Let's do this.

- All right, awesome.

So here we go.

Ready, set, go.

20 line jumps.

Three, four.

Five, six.

- Make sure you don't step on that line.

- 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

17, 18, 19, 20.

Great job.

10 lunges.

One.

Two.

Three.

- Remember to alternate each side - Four.

Five.

Keep it up!

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

All right, we're going to catch our breath a little.

We're going to go to the ground.

Remember you can do knee push-ups or toe push-ups.

And five push-ups.

(chill music) Four.

Five.

All right!

Great job, guys.

One round down.

- That's one round.

- Yep, we're going to stretch out our shoulders.

Get ready for round two.

Tiwa kept track.

Awesome, thanks, Tiwa.

All right!

- You ready?

- Here we go, round two.

Ready, go.

One.

Six, seven, eight.

- Make sure you're jumping over the line and not stepping on the line.

- Great job, and done.

10 lunges.

We're going to slow this down to kind of catch our breath again after those line jumps.

- Slowing it down really helps me catch my breath.

- Me, too.

Nine.

10.

Great job.

Five push-ups.

(chill music continues) Great job.

Keep it up!

- That's two rounds.

- Two rounds down!

Go ahead and catch your breath.

Great ready for round three.

- My shoulders are hurting a little bit.

- All right, me too.

- We need to stretch it out.

- A little sore from those push-ups.

We'll do some arm stretches, arm across the shoulder, for a couple seconds.

Catch our breath.

Remember to breathe.

Great job, all right, ready for round three?

- Yes, I am.

- All right, here we go.

20 line jumps.

Go!

(heavy breathing) (shoes hitting) Keep it up!

- Feel free to alternate too by doing side-to-side.

- Great job!

10 lunges.

- All right.

(chill music continues) Everyone is doing a wonderful job.

- Good job.

Chest up.

(chill music continues) All right, great job.

Five push-ups.

Everybody remember you can do them on your knees.

So I'll show you them on your knees for this round.

(chill music continues) Woo!

I'm sweating.

How about you, Tiwa?

- So am I.

- Great job.

- That's three rounds.

- All right, let's catch our breath.

Reach up to the sky, back down.

(heavy breathing) Great, good job, all right.

- All right.

- All right, 20 line jumps.

Ready, go!

(shoes thudding) - Try and avoid stepping on the line.

(heavy breathing) (shoes thudding) Everyone's doing a wonderful job.

- Great job!

10 lunges.

- All right.

(chill music continues) - Four.

- You can modify this a bit too.

- Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

Great job, five push-ups.

(chill music continues) (heavy breathing) - All right, how many rounds is that, Tiwa?

- I believe that's four.

- All right, mark it down.

(heavy breathing) Keep it up!

Keep it up!

Let's try to get at least another round in.

Let's push it here, less than two minutes left.

- All right.

Okay.

(heavy breathing) 20 line jumps.

You ready?

- Yeah, ready!

- All right, let's do it.

(heavy breathing) (shoes thudding) - Woo!

Great job!

10 lunges.

Keep it up!

(chill music continues) - All right, one more minute.

Almost there.

- Last minute, keep pushing.

Keep pushing.

Great job.

Five push-ups.

- Feel free to modify.

(heavy breathing) - Woo!

(Lexie claps) Good job, Tiwa.

(Tiwa breathes heavily) - I'm getting tired.

- All right.

How many rounds is that?

- That's five.

- Five rounds.

Great job, guys.

(Lexie breathes heavily) - We're pushing through.

- Great job, everyone.

- All right.

- All right, last few seconds.

- Line jumps.

- Let's finish strong.

- All right.

(heavy breathing) (shoes thudding) - All right, 10 lunges.

10 seconds left, keep it up.

Great job!

Keep it up!

- Three seconds.

Two.

One.

- Woo!

Great job!

- Wonderful job, Lexie.

Wonderful job, everyone.

I hope you enjoyed today's movement break.

InPACT at Home is a chance to apply the skills you may have learned in your PE class to improve your health.

(upbeat electronic music) (birds chirping) - Hi, I'm Katie from the Michigan DNR Outdoor Adventure center.

Pollinator species can be anything from bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats in some part of the world, to even wasps, beetles, and flies.

These creatures play a vital role in pollinating flowers and the food crops that we depend on.

You may hear that pollinator species are in decline.

The good news is you can help them at your home.

Today, some of our OAC staff are going to share with you how we've helped pollinators in our yards and how you can do the same thing.

But first, let's meet some pollinators that are local to southeast Michigan.

- If you've been watching our Nature in Our Neighborhood series for a while, you might remember that a couple months back I did a video about native mason bees.

Mason bees are ultra efficient pollinators, and farmers and gardeners have actually started using mason bees for their pollination services in place of honey bees, so I do have an exciting update for you.

I do have occupied mason bee nests.

Here's a couple right here in the corner of this house.

They're packed with mud, which means there are developing mason bees in there, and after a little while, they will chew through and emerge through that mud.

So we have another mason bee house here on our property that's a little bit simpler.

These are just holes that are drilled a few inches deep on a block of wood.

And surprisingly it's been a little bit more successful than the other one.

We've had several nests in here.

Here's a few that are easy to see that are currently packed with mud, and it appears that we have actually already had some mason bees that have emerged from formerly packed nest holes.

Some of the easiest pollinators to observe are butterflies because they can often be big and beautiful.

The black swallowtail and the monarch are two common species that are easy to attract to your yard.

So let's focus on these.

Butterflies are often attracted to large, flat flowers that are easy for them to land on, such as the native purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan.

Flowers with this general appearance are called composite flowers, and are attractive to butterflies for their nectar.

So providing nectar plants for pollinators is very important and it's a great thing to do, but butterflies also need host plants.

Butterfly host plants are plant species that butterflies lay their eggs on and then the larvae feed on that plant as caterpillars.

So here's a few that I have in my landscape that are very easy for you to incorporate into your landscape as well.

Black swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on carrot family plants, both native species and actual carrots and herbs.

They really seem to prefer dill.

Dill is very easy to grow in your garden, and the swallowtails just seem to love it.

Each of these plants shown here can be host plants for the black swallowtail butterfly.

Golden Alexanders is the only one shown here that is a Michigan native species.

These images show black swallowtail caterpillars munching or resting on dill.

You can see that they are at different stages and sizes.

As they grow and molt their skin, their colors and patterns do change.

Without milkweed, there would be no monarchs.

It is the only plant family that monarchs lay eggs on.

Here are a couple different milkweed species you could incorporate into your yard and landscaping.

Butterfly weed with the orange flowers is great for more formal garden areas as it's low-growing and actually kind of shrub-like.

Common milkweed is also very easy to grow but may be better in a less formal area around your yard as it grows quite tall and it spreads, but they are both beautiful, and the monarchs need them.

Here you can see a small monarch caterpillar hiding in some milkweed flowers.

Hummingbirds are also nectar feeders and pollinators like bees and butterflies are.

Here in Michigan or anywhere east of the Mississippi River, the only regular species of hummingbird we have is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

A female is shown here, which is why it doesn't have a ruby throat.

It is feeding on the beautiful red cardinal flower, a native species that grows here in wet areas.

You can buy cardinal flower cultivars at many garden centers.

Here are a couple other species that hummingbirds feed on: wild columbine and beardtongue.

So what does each flower seem to have in common?

Hummingbirds are certainly attracted to red flowers, but they are also attracted to tube-shaped flowers of any color because it is easy for them to insert their tongue into a tube-shaped flower while they're hovering.

So beardtongue is great for hummingbirds too even though it is a white flower.

Each of these three species shown here is a native species here in Michigan that you can often find at garden centers.

Some moth species, especially daytime moths, are pollinators as well.

(wings buzzing) This clearwing moth here is feeding on wild bergamot, which is also a favorite of bumblebees with its blue color and tube-shaped flowers.

If you see something feeding in flowers that looks like a bee but just doesn't look right, or maybe it looks like a hummingbird and you're just not sure, it may be a clearwing moth.

(wings buzzing) - Right now, I'm in my backyard where in a very small corner of the yard I've created a space for native plants.

These plants help our pollinators, and this space isn't very big.

I just have a regular-sized neighborhood yard, and I've created kind of a 10-by-4-foot section filled with pollinator friendly plants.

So even having just a small area of your yard dedicated to native plants that help our pollinator friends is super beneficial.

Let's take a walk through the small corner of my yard dedicated to pollinator-friendly plants.

These are some sunflowers that were left behind from sunflower seeds, maybe from animals passing through.

Here is some dense blazing star which has not yet bloomed.

Most of these plants have not bloomed quite yet.

Those will come up a beautiful purple color.

Over here is our common milkweed and swamp milkweed, which is just starting to get some flowers.

These will be a nice pink color.

And some not yet bloomed wild bergamot and New England aster plants, which will also be a nice purple color.

And back here, (birds chirping) there's some stiff goldenrod that will bloom yellow (birds chirping) and right here is the site of what used to be Virginia bluebells, which are a pretty tube-shaped purple flower that come up really early in the spring, so those are helpful for our pollinators because they are one of the first plants to bloom early in the spring when there's not much else around.

- [Narrator] If you're interested in learning more about our vital pollinators and what you can do to help, here are some places to start.

These resources can provide helpful information about the pollinators in your area, which species you can plant to attract them, and other ways that you can support efforts to conserve pollinator species.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

(upbeat electronic music) - Hey, everyone.

My name is Diane.

I'm super excited to be joining you all.

Today, we're going to be using our wonderful minds to think about a math expression.

Before we jump in, let's talk about multiplication and some different terms I'll be using.

What do you know about multiplication?

Ah, yes, repeated addition.

Ooh, equal groups, that's another good one.

The answer is called the product.

It's like you read my mind.

That was the next thing I was going to bring up.

The product is what we call the answer to a multiplication equation.

Today as we are solving a multiplication equation, our big focus will be to think about how to decompose, or take apart, the numbers to make them easier to manage.

Have you ever used decomposing numbers during other things with math?

What's that?

Oh, so you've decomposed numbers with subtraction on a number line?

And you decomposed numbers when we were at the grocery store guessing how much our favorite snacks would cost?

Those are awesome examples.

We're going to start off with a multiplication equation, and your job is to solve it however works best for you.

Let's see if we think the same or if we think about it differently.

If you think of more than one strategy, ask yourself: "Which one works better for solving this effectively and efficiently?"

Now when I say "effectively," what do you think of?

Can you tell me?

I think I heard someone say something about getting it right.

That's true.

If something is effective, it's doing what we want it to do.

I like to think about being effective at throwing a football.

If I throw it effectively, my team gets a touchdown, and I get to do a dance.

So what about the part about efficiently?

What did you say?

Ah, I head some of you say, "I heard the word efficient when people talk about putting gas in a car."

That's another great example.

Efficient is about doing something without using a lot of energy.

So remember that touchdown that I just threw?

If I'm efficient at it, I don't have to run all around before I throw, and I get to save more energy for dancing.

So here's our first expression: 14 times 2.

Think about this, and think about solving it in whatever way you want.

All right, so now is your time to share.

Tell a friend or a trusted adult your strategy, and don't forget to think about if it is effective and efficient.

(calm rhythmic music) Ah, that's a great idea.

I love some of these strategies.

I wrote some things down that I really wanted to share with you.

One way I heard someone say was that they saw 14 times 2 as two groups of 14.

Then they said that addition was something that they could do in their head, so 14 plus 14 equals 28.

We'll use this answer to check our other strategies to make sure our products are consistent.

So let's look at another strategy that someone thought of.

I heard someone notice something about 14 that they made it easier for them to think about how to multiply the numbers.

They said, "I know that 14 is the same value as 7 plus 7, so I started there."

So we can write 14 times 2 as 7 plus 7 times 2.

Oh, man, that really is helpful.

That means that we are multiplying 7 times 2 twice because of the two 7's here.

Can you think of what number is the same value as 7 times 2?

Did you say 14?

That's right!

7 times 2 equals 14, so 14 plus another 14 is 28.

Do you see anything similar with the two strategies we have talked about here?

Yeah, it's true.

They both came up with the same product.

Oh, I heard something that I had thought about too.

This last strategy was similar to the two groups of 14 that we talked about before.

Isn't it interesting how we can all think about things in a different way, but there are still some similarities?

One more strategy that I heard and wanted to share was that they used money to make sense of the expression.

I thought that was a great example.

So if I have a $10 bill and four $1 bills, that would be $14.

So I can decompose 14 into a 10 and 4 ones.

Then someone says, "Hey, you're going to get another $14."

My first thought, (tongue clicks) "Awesome!"

Now my bills are two 10's, and I have two sets of 4 ones.

So we could write 2 times 10 plus 2 times 4, But how do these two parts match?

I want you to ask yourself, "What happened to the 14?"

Can you tell me?

Ah, I think I heard it.

It was split into a 10 and 4 ones.

I would say that 14 was decomposed into a 10 and 4 ones.

With this decomposing, we are able to do some mental math by multiplying the parts of 14 by 2.

I really liked this strategy because 10 and 4 are friendly numbers for me to work with in my head.

Maybe they are for you too.

I know that 2 times 10 equals 20, and then I also know that 2 times 4 equals 8.

With those two parts, I can add 20 plus 8 and get 28.

If we look back at our original strategy, the products match.

You remember what the product is, right?

Exactly!

It's the answer to a multiplication problem.

Which strategy ended up being the best one for you?

I know for me, decomposing 14 into 10 and 4 made the numbers really friendly to me.

So let's try that strategy with another equation: 18 times 2.

Try decomposing into numbers that will work really well for you.

Let's meet up in just a second.

(calm rhythmic music) All right, it's looking good.

I think I have an idea.

So now I'd like you to share your strategy with someone around you, and share it with me too.

Oh, that was a really good one.

I heard a lot of people decomposing numbers.

A strategy I heard that I wanted to share was how someone decomposed 18 into 10 plus 4 plus 4.

They said it was easy for them to think about those values and keep track of them.

So now we have 10 plus 4 plus 4 times 2.

We can do 10 times 2 to equal 20, 4 times 2 to equal 8, and we have another one of those, so we have another 8.

So to find our product, they did 20 plus 8 plus 8.

So 28 plus 8 equals, oh, what's that?

Oh, you added 8 plus 8 first?

You got it.

We'll scratch that.

So 8 plus 8 equals 16, and then 16 plus 20 equals 36.

I see what you mean.

28 plus 8 seemed a little more challenging to think about in my head than 16 plus 20.

So our final product for this one is 36.

That's a great job.

Today we looked at how to decompose a number and make problems more manageable, and we saw that breaking a number up can help us solve the problem using things we already know.

I wonder if this strategy will work with other problems like this one.

See y'all.

- Are you an animal lover?

I definitely am, but I don't have a favorite one.

My mom always says that she loves animals but at a distance.

When she first encountered my neighbor's two dogs, these 70-pound Labradors, they were barking and biting at her, and it was very scary.

Since then, my mom's always hung back when she saw my neighbor's dogs.

Speaking of which, today is a special day.

So shout out to my mom, and let's all wish her a happy birthday.

(camera shutter clicking) (people cheering) (party horn blowing) Now let's make way for another very wholesome animal: the alpaca.

Chris Nelson in Frankfurt has an alpaca farm.

Take a look.

(upbeat electronic music) (classical music) - They are called the therapeutic animals because they calm you.

They nibble on the grass.

The way they treat Mother Earth is very gentle, so they're called the green animal.

There's no downside to alpacas.

We have lived here for about 25 years, but we have had alpacas only for about 14 now.

We went to our very first alpaca farm, and we fell in love.

That's why we have the sign on the pasture fence that says, "Caution: they will steal your heart."

They all actually have different personalities.

They are just very gentle, docile, sweet, intuitive animals.

They're not aggressive.

They are wonderful mothers.

It just doesn't get any better than this.

We've had every animal on this farm because my husband's a veterinarian.

We've had every type of animal, and I love them all, but these animals are enchanting.

You know, the world around you changes.

Alpaca's just don't.

Animals don't change.

I cannot ever imagine not having alpacas.

No, we'll always do this.

This is our future, is the alpaca farm.

- Hi!

I'm Katie from the DNR Outdoor Adventure Center with the neighborhood creature quiz for you.

This creature is one that we sometimes see around parks or neighborhoods.

It is a mammal, meaning it has fur, is warm-blooded, gives live birth, and produces milk for its young.

It is in the order Artiodactyla.

This means that it is an animal with hooves.

Here we can observe some tracks left behind by this mammal.

To be even more specific, this creature is in the family Cervidae or cervids.

This means it is a ruminant animal, having a stomach with different compartments that works perfectly for digesting plant material such as grasses, leaves, acorns, berries, or even agricultural crops like corn.

Cervids also have these things pictured here.

These structures made from bone grow from this creature's skull and shed each year.

Not horns, but instead antlers.

Speaking of what this animal might eat, let's look at its dentition, or its skull and teeth.

If we look at the bottom jaw pictured here, we can see that there are molars in the back, a large gap, and then incisors up front.

The top jaw of this creature has molars too, but there are no teeth in the front of this mammal's mouth on the top jaw.

Instead, they have a hard pad in place of teeth.

This mammal would use its bottom incisors and hard pad to tear plant material and its molars to grind it up.

Let's look at the fur of this mammal.

This creature has a light brown fur color.

This pelt is actually folded up.

Let's look at a photo of it all spread out.

This mammal is somewhat large.

They do find spaces to live in neighborhoods and parks, but they are mostly active around dawn or dusk, so you're not as likely to see them wandering around in the daytime like some other neighborhood creatures.

Do you have any guesses about how who this creature is?

Answer in three, two, one.

The white-tailed deer, Michigan's state mammal.

You can see white-tailed deer throughout the entire state of Michigan.

And this time of year, you might even see white-tailed deer who look like this.

With springtime comes baby wildlife.

Fauns, baby deer, are sometimes discovered tucked away in some brush all alone.

Many wild mothers leave babies unattended and hidden to protect them from predators.

They almost always are nearby and return periodically to care for their young when they feel it's safe.

The best thing you can do to help young wildlife is to simply leave them alone.

Here are a few resources to learn a little bit more about white-tailed deer and other wildlife and what to do if you find an orphaned wild animal such as a fawn.

- Knowing where our food comes from and how it's grown and its impact on the environment are real concerns for many people.

More and more are turning to local farmers for everything from vegetables to eggs and meats.

In Osceola County, one family is trying to do its part to not only product quality meats but make sure they do it in a sustainable and holistic way.

Stephanie Mills heads to Apsey Farms to learn more about their practice.

(cows mooing) - I have very fond memories growing up and spending my summer helping my grandpa on the farm, baling hay, raking, fixing a lot of equipment mostly, but so many fond memories.

- [Stephanie] Kyle Apsey is a fourth generation farmer.

He was born and raised right here on Apsey Farms just outside Reed City.

For Kyle, being a hard worker runs in his blood.

- So Apsey Farm, it's a centennial farm.

My great-grandparents started the farm when he brought his cattle up from the Grand Rapids area all the way up here, and we've had cattle ever since.

About 5 or 10 years ago, we started to realize the impact that the food we eat has on our health and to help the planet.

- [Narrator] The family has seen a lot of changes over the years.

With a greater focus on taking care of the earth and continuing their legacy, the Apseys are dedicated to enhancing their sustainable practices by caring in the best possible ways for their animals and the pastures they roam.

- We started hearing all these things about cows being bad for the world, and contributing to climate change, and in a lot of ways, it's true with our industrial food system and how the conventional system is set up to produce cheap and addictive food as efficiently as possible and such, so where a few lots are the norm, and we wanted a better way to raise the food that we eat, one that was better for the land, the animals, and the people that eat the food.

Through research, reading a lot, and by mimicking nature, the way that farmers used to farm a hundred years ago before the industrial system, we can use our animals to graze rotationally on the fields and then supply all of them nutrients and manure to build the soil and we really found that the healthier the soil, the healthier the plants that grow on the land, the healthier the animals are that eat the grasses and the plants, and then the healthier the consumer that eventually eats the food.

- [Stephanie] All cattle here at Apsey are 100 percent grass-fed, and they're always on the move even in the winter months.

They're also introducing other ways and animals like turkey and chicken to further enrich the soil and lessen their carbon footprint.

- So about three days after the cows go through, we'll bring the chickens along.

(chicken clucking) And they'll eat through the bugs and grasses and help disinfect so that we don't have to use any chemicals at all, and along with that, we can produce an even healthier meat product.

We are very transparent with everything that we do.

We are active on social media, so people that aren't in the area can see behind-the-scenes what's going on.

And we love to give tours, and open up our farm for families and others to reach out and come visit the farm and actually see how your food is grown and why we do the things that we do.

- [Stephanie] The hard work for these farmers is really never ending, especially because for most, farming isn't their day job.

Most have other full-time jobs.

The Apsey Farm has been around since 1913.

As the next-generation takes over, they're doing all they can to preserve their legacy for the next generation.

- Most farmers have to have a job outside the farm to support them.

And unfortunately my grandparents and my dad, who always worked off the farm, so that we can make this a reality and make it so that we have the opportunity to continue the legacy and to produce better food for all.

I would recommend everyone at the end of the day try to have a relationship with your farmer and know how your food is raised, where it came from, and do your part to help improve the environment and our food system for years to come.

- What a great show.

I love visiting the Crystal Lake Alpaca Farm in northern Michigan.

And how did your egg dissection go?

I didn't realize eggs had so many parts.

Did you?

See you next time.

- On the next episode of Extra Credit, learn how to draw a cartoon pig and a duck, plus a career for people who love animals.

Get your extra credit on the Michigan Learning Channel.

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan, and by viewers like you.

(upbeat rock music) (cheering) (piano music)