SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK!

"The Four-Legged Zoo"

Original Air Date

January 27, 1973

A teacher (Miss Simpson) takes her class to the zoo where they use the animals to learn the multiplication of 4.

"The Four-Legged Zoo" Lyrics

We went to the four-legged zoo

To visit our four-footed friends.

Lions and tigers, cats and dogs,

A goat and a cow and a couple o' hogs.

A rhinoceros and of course a hippopotamus

And, oh yes, a horse!

There were elk and bison, a gnu or two,

Giraffes and elephants, quite a few,

A llama, alpaca, vicuna too,

Zebras, Ibexes, and one big kudu.

It was swell.

I liked the gazelle.

Now Miss Simpson said ...

She teaches school, you know-

Yeah, she took us there.

Well, Miss Simpson said-

If we counted every head on these

quadrupeds,

Then multiplied that number by four,

We'd know how many feet went through the

door,

If we turned 'em all loose.

Oh no, don't do that!

It's really a groovy zoo.

But anyway, what Miss Simpson said,

It was a good chance to work on our fours in

our head.

1-2-3-4!

I'll take a lion ... 1 X 4

He's got four legs and maybe a roar.

Gimme 2 camels ... that's 2 x 4

8 legs walking 'cross the desert floor.

A tiger and a lamb and a fat kudu,

Would be 3 x 4 equals 12 legs too.

But we might have to subtract

When that tiger was through! (Rrarr!)

Four 4-footed friends, no matter who,

Would have sixteen legs, and It's always true

That 4 X 4 equals 16,

And 5 x 4 is 20.

Now a coach and six, If you were Cinderella,

Would have you home by midnight

If those twenty-four legs ran fast as light ...

6 x 4 equals 24 and 7 x 4 equals 28

Anyone knows that, who cares about seven

And eight antelope have thirty-two legs

'cause 8 x 4 is 32.

Here come a small herd of buffalo.

They say they're getting extinct, you know.

I can count nine-that's thirty-six legs.

9 x 4 equals 36.

Here comes a baby buffalo.

That's good! That's ten!

And 10 x 4, you know, is 40.

Eleven coyotes ... 11 X4

Went slinkin' over the prairie floor

On all of their legs ... equals 44.

Now 12 X 4 is as high as we go ...

12 x 4 equals 48.

But there were so very, very, many, many

more

Animals standing there by the gate,

That we'd have to use a pencil if we counted

them all.

And we really had fun,

And we saw every one.

A bear, a cougar, a jackal, a yak,

A fox, some deer, and a sweet giraffe.

And I can't remember how many, many more,

But we multiplied them all by four.

And some of them thanked us with a roar.