Problems of the Week - December 28 to January 2

Rewards for Problems of the week:

5 points for the correct answer at your level; 10 points for the next level; 20 points each for 2+ levels up.

Lower Elementary:

Question: An octopus lives in an underwater garden that is shaped like a rectangle. The fence around the garden is 7 feet on the long sides and 5 feet on the short sides. Draw a picture of the garden on graph paper. How many 1-foot squares are in the octopus’s garden, and how many feet of fence go around it?

Upper Elementary:

Question: John has a manuscript that is 1,040 pages long. If it took him 2 years to write, then how many pages did John write per week on average?

(Hint: There are 52 weeks in a year.)

Middle School:

Question: A blackbird starts singing in the middle of the night, exactly between sunset and sunrise. If the sun sets at 5:37 pm and rises at 6:47 am, then at what time of night does the blackbird sing?

Algebra and Up:

Question: There is a hole in Paul’s ceiling where rain drips in at a rate of 15 milliliters per minute. As Paul fixes the hole, the rain that gets through decreases linearly. It takes him 2 minutes and 36 seconds to complete the task. How much rain gets in as Paul fixes the hole?

(Hint: Graph the decreasing rate of dripping rain in terms of time. What shape is formed under the graph?)

Challenge problem to take home. 20 points for the correct answer. 

In a grassy field, a goat is tethered by a 6 ft long rope to the corner of a rectangular 4 ft wide by 5 ft long shed. What area of grass can the goat graze?