Lesson 20.5: Art Connection

Learn More

Moooving In!

Mooove over, Fido! One day you might be sharing the floor with the newest kind of household pet—the mini cow. “They're almost like dogs, but they don't jump on you,“ said Dustin Pillard, who raises the puny pets on a farm.

A normal-sized cow stands higher than a small pickup truck. It weighs an average of 1,500 pounds. The mini cow stands only about 3 feet tall and weighs between 300 and 500 pounds.

The tiny cows are related to small cattle from India, a country in Asia. The cows from India are called Zebu cattle. This kind of cow is often called the mini-moo.

Intercontinental Cows

About 80 years ago, Zebu cows were brought to the U.S. Most of those cows were kept in zoos. Over the years, some were brought to farms, such as the one Pillard runs.

Now mini-moos are moooving into houses. It's only a matter of time before someone tries to train a mini-moo to fetch, speak, beg, or roll over. But would you want a 500-pound mini-moo jumping on your furniture?

Word Wise

Breed animals or grow plants: Corn is raised on farms all over the Midwest.

Very small: The puny chick was trying hard to fly.

Number found by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the number of addends. For example: To find the average of the numbers 3, 6, and 9, you must:
Step 1: Add the numbers: 3 + 6 + 9 = 18
Step 2: Divide the sum by the number of addends: 18 ÷ 3 = 6
The average is 6.

Back to Article


1. Synonyms are words that have the same, or almost the same, meanings. Look back at the article “Mooving In.” Find and list synonyms of the word puny that appear in the article.

2. Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. List some antonyms of the word puny.

Data Hunt

You have just read that mini cows are the new kind of pet. But, miniature horses have been known as household pets for a long time. The little horses average about 30 inches tall.

How many inches tall are you? Suppose you were standing next to a miniature horse. Where would the top of its head come up to on you?

The table lists data about horses that are for sale on one miniature-horse farm in Indiana:

Mini Horses

Name Color and Breed Height (in inches)
Chippy Black and White Pinto 281/4
Smiley Palomino Pinto 311/4
Winner Tri-colored Buckskin Appaloosa 293/4
Pal Blue Roan Appaloosa 333/4

Answer the questions below on a sheet of paper. Write subtraction sentences to help you solve them.

  1. How much taller is Pal than Smiley? (22/4, or 21/2 inches)
  2. How much taller is Winner than Chippy? (12/4, or 11/2 inches)