How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

& Other Questions Regarding

the GroundhogMatthew Bryan

February 2, 2013

6th Grade Science

Standards (Delaware)Delaware Education 6th Grade Standard 6.337 [Diversity & continuity of living things]:

identify “kingdom” as the first main level of the standard classification system. Observe a variety of living organisms and determine into which kingdom they would be classified.

Delaware Education 6th Grade Standard 6.338 [Nature application of science]:

examine an assortment of plants and animals and use simple classification keys, based on observable features, to sort and group the organisms

So, How Much Wood Could A Woodchuck Chuck…

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? That is a question that surprisingly has a few answers. To find out the results and more we will study these critters further.

Part IWoodchuck = Groundhog

The Name Woodchuck...

The merry mammals named woodchuck originated in North America. It was the European settler derivative of a Native American name for the groundhog. Native Americans were very familiar with the indigenous mammal and had various names for it according to the tribe; otcheck or wuchak in Cree (Needham, 2012).

Woodchucks / GroundhogsGroundhogs are also known as woodchucks, whistle pigs, and marmots. “Their scientific name is Marmota monax (history.com, 2012).” “They are rodents and are part of the Sciurid family (Scientopia.org,

2012).”

Groundhogs and SquirrelsGroundhogs and squirrels come from the same rodent family.

Groundhogs in the WildGroundhogs can weigh 12 to 15 pounds.

Live 6 to 8 years.

Can whistle when looking for a mate or when frightened.

Can swim and climb trees.

Groundhog Diet

Like to eat “dandelion greens, clover, plantain and grasses (Hamilton & Whitaker,

1996).”

Groundhogs HibernateGroundhogs bulk up in the summer and go into hibernation in the late fall (Hamilton & Whitaker, 1996).

“during this time, their body temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat (History.com, 2012).”

Groundhogs Hibernate, Continued

“In February, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate before going underground again. They come out of hibernation for good in March (History.com,

2012).”

Groundhog Mom and Their Pups

“Female woodchucks have about three to five pups… At six weeks, they are expelled from the den (Needham,

2012).”

Part IIGroundhog Day

Groundhog DayThe annual event is held on February 2nd, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania

That most famous groundhog’s name

is Punxsutawney Phil.

Groundhog Day, continued

This tradition dates back to Roman times when they would celebrate the hedgehog. Later in early Christian Europe it was known as Candlemas Day (Groundhog.org, 2012; History.org, 2012; HuffingtonPost.com, 2010).

Phil the Groundhog and His Shadow

“If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole (Groundhog.org,

2012).”

125 Years of Groundhog DaySeen

ShadowNOT

SeenYears

Not Listed

100

Years16

Years9 Years

Groundhog Day began in America in 1887

http://statistics.about.com/od/Applications/a/Groundhog-Day-Statistics.htm

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/groundhog-day.php0% 20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

NOT Seen

Column1

Part IIIGroundhogs in

Cinema and Television

Caddyshack (1980)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhogs on TelevisionThe Pennsylvania Lottery used Gus the groundhog as their advertisement mascot from 2004 to 2012.

Geico Insurance used two woodchucks in a commercial campaign in 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q6Ti9xCX_M

Part IVHow Much Wood Can a Woodchuck

Chuck…

This is How Much Wood a Woodchuck Could Chuck…

Cornell University:

700 pounds (this is material moved, not necessarily chucked) (Hamilton & Whitaker, 1996)

This is How Much Wood a Woodchuck Could Chuck…

Annals of Improbable Research:

361.9237001 cubic centimeters of wood per day (this is wood chewed, not necessarily thrown) (Paskevich &

Shea, 1995) via (Scientopia, 2012)

This is How Much Wood a Woodchuck Could Chuck…

Siri (iPhone 5):

Answer #1

“42 cords of wood”

(A cord of wood is 4 feet deep by 4 feet high by 8 feet long)

This is How Much Wood a Woodchuck Could Chuck…

Siri (iPhone 5):

Answer #2

“A so-called ‘woodchuck’ (correctly speaking, a groundhog) would chuck – that is, throw – as much as the woodchuck in question was physically able to chuck (ibid.) if woodchucks in general had the capability (and, presumably, the motivation) to chuck wood.”

This is How Much Wood a Woodchuck Could Chuck…

The Traditional Answer (and most likely the correct one):

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

References

Doyle-Murray, B., Kenny, D., & Ramis, H. (1980) Caddyshack, Orion Pictures

Hamilton, W. & Whitaker, J. (1996) Groundhog day facts and factoids, Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/96/2.1.96/facts.html

Needham, W. (2012) Groundhog, Hiker’s Notebook, http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/Groundhog_070129.htm

Ramis, H. & Rubin, D. (1993) Groundhog day, Columbia Pictures

References, continued

Siri (2012) How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, iPhone5, Apple Inc.

(2012) Friday Weird Science: how much wood could a woodchuck chuck... Friday Weird Science, Neurotic Physiology, Scientopia, http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2012/10/05/friday-weird-science-how-much-wood-could-a-woodchuck-chuck/

(2010) Groundhog Day: A History, And 5 Facts You Didn't Know, Huffington Post.com, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/01/groundhog-day-a-history-a_n_441000.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

(2012) Groundhog Day History, The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, http://www.groundhog.org/groundhog-day/history/

References, continued

(2012) Groundhog Day Statistics, Statistics.About.com, http://statistics.about.com/od/Applications/a/Groundhog-Day-Statistics.htm

(2012) Gus Groundhog, Pennsylvania Lottery

(2012) National Climate Data Center’s Groundhog Day Page, National Climate Center, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/groundhog-day.php

(2010) Woodchucks, Geico Insurance, http://www.geico.com/about/commercials/

References (Photographs)Slide 3:

(2012) Animated Woodchuck GIF, of Woodchucks and Lawns, Writing for nature, http://writingfornature.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/woodchuck-chewing-small.gif

Slide 4:

Dayton, B. (2008 ) Woodchuck, Wildlife of America.info, http://www.wildlifeofnorthamerica.info/MNA/Wdchuk-225/Wdchuk-225_275x275x100_053027.jpg

Slide 6:

(2011) Woodchuck #17, Chipmunk is a subset of squirrel, Dear Linda L.com, http://www.dearlindal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/800px-Marmot-edit1.jpg?124c8e

References (Photographs)Slide 7Pierce, T. (2012) Woodchuck #4, Groundhog gossip: How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?, Examiner.com, http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/21/a7/21a740e6ad0125e73c91aecd0f323034.jpg

Slide 8Kushner, B (2010) Groundhog & Squirrel Have Lunch, Dreamtime.com, http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_574/12952397041V0683.jpg

Slide 9 (2012) Woodchuck #10, of Woodchucks and Lawns, Writing for nature, http://writingfornature.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/woodchuck-018-wtr.jpg

References (Photographs)Slide 10Ward, P (UNK) Animal-woodchuck, Groundhog canvas prints, Fine Art America.com, http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/animal--woodchuck--eating-paul-ward.jpg(2012) Woodchuck wallpaper, Desktopia.net, http://desktopia.net/animals/wild-animals/woodchuck-desktop-wallpaper/

Slide 11Carter, R. (2011) Woodchuck #8, Woodchuck Cider, rachelcarterpr.com, http://rachelcarterpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/woodchuck-in-winter-flickr.jpgBilenky, S. (2012) Woodchuck #3, Bilenky cycle works, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XT8jboyanQw/Tz5nIjvq00I/AAAAAAAAAcs/R0K-j1K8uJQ/s1600/woodchuck_1.jpg

References (Photographs)Slide 12Durrance, R. (2012) Woodchuck #13, Woodchuck control methods, eHow.com, http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a08/a7/a4/woodchuck-control-methods-800x800.jpg(2007) Punxsutawney Phil, Imaginopedia, http://imaginopedia.org/images/8/8c/Punxsutawney.jpg

Slide 13Geraughty, R. (2012) Woodchuck #20, Groundhog, Project Noah.org, http://lh3.ggpht.com/yEyJKFIDTK4KuF1VUHOzgwi4Dahnr1tNLPliqqzdctsLtfz9_aXkv8WUtg1AO5Te140kHYL1hEVEcKEk26vHhw=s580(2012) Woodchuck #6, Discovery, http://animal.discovery.com/guides/baby-animals/mammals/gallery/woodchuck.jpg(UNK) Woodchuck #19, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4a3tpOOlmdg/Tyl2cYaOGHI/AAAAAAAAB5A/ctvbjs1pnbE/s1600/groundhog.jpg

References (Photographs)Slide 15(2011) Gobbler Knob, Will Puxsutawney Phil predict for 2011?, Modern Life Today.com, http://www.mobilelifetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Punxsutawney-Phil-300x225.jpg(2008) Punxatawney Phil #5, Brace Yourself for Six More Weeks of Winter!, ThisisCT.net, http://www.thisisct.net/uploaded_images/groundhogday2-719404.jpg

Slide 16Fox, G. (2011) Punxatawney Phil #1, Please Punxatawney Phil make me a believer, GeoffFox.com, http://www.geofffox.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/punxsutawney-phil.jpgSwensen, J. (2010) Punxatawney Phil #3, PETA calls for robotic groundhog to replace Punxsutawney Phil, USA Today, http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2010/01/27/Phiilx-large.jpg

References (Photographs)Slide: 17Cohn, J. (2009) Woodchuck #18, Is Punxsutawney Phil responding to global warming?, The Christian Science Monitor, http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/2009/0202/is-punxsutawney-phil-responding-to-global-warming/picture1.jpg/5536329-1-eng-US/picture1.jpg_full_600.jpg(2012) Woodchuck #14, Arrow Pest Control, http://www.arrowpestcontrolpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Groundhog.jpg

Slide: 20Nibuca (2006) Caddyshack #2, Going Caddyshack, Bungalow Dreams, http://bungalowdreams.fibergeek.com/img/caddyshack_carl.jpg

References (Photographs)Slide: 21Illuminati, C. (2012) Groundhog Day #2, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Movie ‘Groundhog Day’, Guy Speed.com, http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/guyspeed.com/files/2012/02/caddyshack.jpg

Slide: 24Barker, R. & Lang, S. (1997) Scientist with Groundhog #1, Research on groundhogs may cast a light on biological rhythms, Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/97/1.30.97/groundhog.GIF

Slide: 25Rovers, A. & Segelken, R. (1996) Scientist with Groundhog #2, At Cornell, groundhog is harbinger of health, Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/96/2.1.96/groundhog.GIF

References (Photographs)Slide: 26Kay, A. (2012) Woodchuck #21, Groundhog, Project Noah.org, http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/11638091

Slide 27Kay, A. (2012) Woodchuck #22, Groundhog, Project Noah.org, http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/11638091