Lower Elementary:
Question: A baby panda eats 50 stalks of bamboo a day. How many stalks of bamboo are needed to feed 2 baby pandas for a week?
Answer: 700 stalks
Solution: First, find how many stalks of bamboo one baby panda will eat in a week. Count by 50, 7 times to get 350 stalks of bamboo. To get the amount for 2 baby pandas, double the amount for 1 baby panda. 350 doubled is 700 stalks of bamboo.
Upper Elementary:
Question: Nathan is making bags of trail mix. Each bag contains a mixture that is 1/2 nuts, 1/5 raisins, and the rest is candy. What part of the mixture is candy?
Answer: 3/10
Solution: One part is equal to the whole minus the sum of the other parts. The sum of the other parts is 1/2 + 1/5. The Law of Sameness says we can only add things with the same name, so we will change the fractions so they have the same name.
1/2 = 5/10
1/5 = 2/10
Adding those we get 7/10. 1 – 7/10 = 3/10, so candy is 3/10 of the mixture.
Middle School:
Question: A guitar store is having a sale; everything is 20% off. Clay is going to buy a new guitar that is $300. After the 20% discount, Clay uses a coupon for an additional $25 off. After the sale and coupon, how much does the guitar cost?
Answer: $215
Solution: To find out how much money is saved from the sale, find 20% of $300. Percent means for each hundred, 20% of $300 is $60 ($20+$20+$20). $300 – $60 = $240. Subtract the $25 for the coupon to get the modified cost of the guitar. $240 – $25 = $215.
Algebra and Up:
Question: Six less than a positive number squared take away five times the same number is zero. What is the number?
Answer: 6
Solution: Let n be the positive number. The statement as an equation would be:
n2 – 5n – 6 = 0
One way to solve this equation is to factor.
(n – 6)(n + 1) = 0
n – 6 = 0 n + 1 = 0
n = 6 n = -1
Since the question said that n was positive, the answer is 6.
