Lower Elementary:
Question: If a black sheep gives 22 ounces of wool to his master, 23 ounces to his dame, and 19 ounces to the little boy who lives down the lane, then how many ounces of wool does the black sheep give away in total?
Answer: 64 ounces
Solution: To find the total number of ounces of wool, we add 22 + 23 = 45 ounces, + 19 = 64 ounces.
Upper Elementary:
Question: A little pig builds a brick house that is 10½ feet wide and 12½ feet long. What is the perimeter of the little pig’s house?
Answer: 46 feet
Solution: The little pig’s house is rectangular, and the perimeter of a rectangle is its length plus its length plus its width plus its width: 10½ + 10½ + 12½ + 12½ = 46 feet.
Middle School:
Question: Jack casts an 8' shadow. If Jack is 5' tall, then how tall is a bean stalk that casts a 1,600' shadow?
Answer: 1,000 feet
Solution: Jack is five-eigths of his shadow's length. So, the bean stalk's height will be five-eighths of its shadow's length. One eighth of 1,600 feet is 200 feet, so five eighths of 1,600 feet is 200 x 5 = 1,000 feet.
Algebra and Up:
Question: A tortoise and a bare begin a 4-mile race at the same time. The tortoise travels 2 miles per hour, and the hare travels 24 miles per hour. After the hare races for 8 minutes, he stops to take a nap. The tortoise passes the hare and wins the race. How much time does it take for the tortoise to reach the finish line a fter it passes the hare?
Answer: 24 minutes
Solution: First, we need to know how far the hare gets in 8 minutes (or 2/15 of an hour): 24 mph × 2/15 hr = 16/5 miles. That means that there are 4/5 of a mile left to go for the tortoise after it passes the hare. To find the amount of time, we solve for t: 4/5 of a mile = 2 mph × t, so t = 2/5 of an hour, or 24 minutes.
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