The Four-Legged Zoo

The Four-Legged Zoo is a song in Schoolhouse Rock!, which can be seen in Multiplication Rock. The song teachs us how to multiply by four.

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. One, two, three, four!

I'll take a lion... (One times four) He's got four legs and maybe a roar. Gimme two camels... that's two times four Eight legs walking 'cross the desert floor.

A tiger and a lamb and a fat kudu, Would be three times four (equals 12 legs too). But we might have to subtract When that tiger was through! (Rowwwr!)

Four four-footed friends, no matter who, Would have 16 legs, and it's always true That four times four equals 16, And five times four is 20.

Now a coach and six, if you were Cinderella, Would have you home by midnight If those 24 legs ran fast as lightning... Six times four equals 24 and seven times four equals 28 Anyone knows that, who cares about seven...

And 8 antelope have 32 legs 'cause eight times four is 32.

Here come a small herd of buffalo. They say they're getting extinct, you know. I can count nine - that's 36 legs. Nine times four equals 36. Here comes a baby buffalo. That's good! That's ten! And ten times four, you know, is 40.

Eleven coyotes... (Eleven times four) Went slinkin' over the prairie floor On all of their legs... Equals 44.

Now twelve times four is as high as we go... Twelve times four equals 48. But there were so very, very, many, many more Animals standing there by the gate.

But 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.