This month's problems have been adapted from Teaching Children Mathematics (Jan/Feb 2018), Mathematics in the Middle School (Jan/Feb 2018), and Take Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices (M. Smith, D. Huinker and V. Bill, 2017, NTCM, Reston, VA) Which Rainforest Animal is Best? Find out a bit about the following animals: Harlequin frog, salamander, banded tree anole and a turnip-tailed gecko. Next, take a class poll to find out which animal is the most intriguing. Or, which animal you would want as a class pet. Or, which animal is the favourite of the class. Use the data you collect to make a graph or pictogramme. Write 3 comparison statements about your information. How Much Food is Needed? Amazon spider monkeys eat fruit, leaves, nuts and spiders. The leader of the troop is usually in charge of gathering the food. Each spider monkey likes to eat 2 fruit, 5 leaves, 10 nuts and 3 spiders each day. How much food does the leader need to gather for his troop of 7 monkeys? Can you find more than one way to represent your answer? If the leader brought back 16 pieces of fruit, would he have enough food to feed all the other monkeys? Justify your answer. The leader finds a log with 75 spiders on it. How many days will this log feed the monkeys? (imagine the spiders do not move very far from the log!) Band Concert Problem The spring band concert is fast approaching, and your class has been asked to ensure there are enough chairs in the gym for all the parents. The gym has a capacity for 450 chairs. The band will take up 1/3 of the gym. How many chairs do you need to ask Mr. Jonathan to find? For safety reasons, Mme Waite insists there is an isle between each group of chairs. How would you place the chairs in the gym so people can move in and out easily, and still be able to count the chairs quickly? Make a drawing of at least 2 different ways the chairs can be placed for easy access and safety. Maya thinks you will only be able to place 300 chairs in the gym. Kyle thinks the number of chairs is 330. Which student is correct? How do you know? The Brownie Problem Your mom made some brownies for the concert. She left 7 brownies at home for you to share with your 3 friends who are staying with you. Everyone needs to get exactly the same amount, or it won't be fair. How much of the brownies will everyone get? Draw and explain how you know this is true. How many brownies would there need to be for everyone to get 2 1/2 brownies? How do you know? The Seven Billion People Problem
In November 2011, the seven billionth person was born. Is it true that if you laid out all the people on earth end to end, they would encircle the earth 266 times? (The circumference of the earth is approximately 24, 901 miles) Is it true that if all seven billion people stood shoulder to shoulder, we would fit into Los Angeles? (LA is approximately 500 square miles) List some of the question you are asking yourself as you solve this problem? Is there information you need, but do not have? How might you find this information? Document how you solved this problem. How would your answers change with today's population numbers? (7.6 billion as of March 6, 2018)
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AuthorThis page is authored by the staff at East Lake School. Archives
March 2020
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