September 24, 2007

Problem: I have four 3¢ stamps and three 5¢ stamps. Using one or more of these stamps, how many different amounts of postage can I make?

Answer: 19 different amounts of postage

September 17, 2007

Problem:  A grandfather clock strikes one chime at one o’clock, 2 chimes at two o’clock, 3 chimes at three o’clock, and so forth. What is the total number of chimes the clock will strike in a twelve hour period?

Answer: 78 chimes

March 12, 2007

Melody's new bedroom is 16 feet by 21 feet. She wants to get carpet to cover the entire floor. How many square yards of carpet does she need? Show your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answer: Melody needs 112 square yards of carpet to cover her bedroom.

March 5, 2007

Problem: A rectangle is 7 inches wide. The area of the rectangle is 63 square inches. What is the perimeter of the rectangle? Show your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: The perimeter of the rectangle is 32 inches.

February 26, 2007

Problem: Jake, Reid, Felicia, and Whitney have different coins.
Jake's coin is worth two of Felicia's. Reid's coin is worth more than anyone else's coin. If Felicia had 4 more of her coins, she would have as much as Reid. If Whitney had 4 more of her coins, she would have as much as Felicia. What coin does each person have? Justify your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Jake has a dime, Reid has a quarter, Felicia has a nickel, and Whitney has a penny.

February 19, 2007

Joseph bought a T-shirt and had his name put on it. The T-shirt cost $12.98. Each letter cost 60 cents extra. How much did Joseph pay for his T-shirt?
How much would you have to pay for a T-shirt with your name on it? (Answers will vary.) Justify your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answer: The T-shirt cost Joseph $16.58.

February 12 , 2007

At the Valentine's Day party, Emily could decorate a cookie with or without frosting, with or without sprinkles, and with or without candies. How many ways could she decorate her cookie? Justify your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Emily could decorate her cookie 8 different ways.

February 5 , 2007

Problem: Mr. Frazier is putting new carpet in his living room. The living room is 16 feet long and 13 feet wide. What is the area of the living room? What is the perimeter of the living room? Justify your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answer: The area of the living room is 208 square feet. The perimeter of the living room is 58 square feet.

January 29 , 2006

The Mackadoo's played a two-night concert in Charlotte. The first night 73,844 fans attended. The second night 68,922 fans attended. About how many fans attended both nights?
Justify your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answer: About 143,000 fans attended the concert on both nights.

January 22 , 2006

Robert looked out his window and saw snow falling. He measured the depth of the snow after one hour. It was 1 ½ inches deep. If the snow continues to fall at the same rate, how deep will the snow be after five hours? Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answer: The snow will be 7 ½ deep in five hours.

January 8 , 2006

Bill is one year older than Benita. The product of their ages is an even number between 236 and 244. How old is Bill? How old is Benita? Explain your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Bill is 16. Benita is 15.

December 18 , 2006

At the Tucker Toy Company, a machine can package 420 games every hour. How many games does it package per minute? How many games does it package in 8 hours?
Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: The machine can package 7 games per minute and 3,360 games in 8 hours.

December 11 , 2006

Ryan and T.J. are playing a board game with a spinner. The spinner is divided into 4 equal sections and includes the numerals 3, 2, 5, and 4. Ryan needs at least five more points to win the game. What is his probability of winning in one spin?
If he lands on the 2, what is his probability of winning with his next spin?
Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: The probability of Ryan winning in one spin is ¼.
If he lands on the 2, he has ¾ probability of winning on his next spin.

December 04 , 2006

Nolan is selling gift wrap for his school fund-raiser. He is hoping to sell at least $100.00 of gift wrap. Each roll of gift wrap sells for $6.25. He has sold 7 rolls so far. How many rolls of gift wrap will Nolan need to sell to reach his goal of $100.00?
Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Nolan will need to sell 9 more rolls of gift wrap.

November 27 , 2006

Leo has $3.45 in quarters and dimes. He has four more quarters than dimes. How many of each coin does he have?

Answer: Leo has 7 dimes and 11 quarters.

November 13 , 2006

C.E., Donna, Elizabeth, and Lisa are all friends. C.E. says he is older than Elizabeth, and he should know because he is her brother. Donna knows she's older than all of them, and Elizabeth is pretty sure that Lisa is younger than her. List the friends in order from oldest to youngest.

Answer: Donna, C.E., Elizabeth, and Lisa

November 6 , 2006

Jared has a bad cough. His mom has to give him 1 teaspoon of cough syrup every 45 minutes. He took his first dose at 2:20 p.m. He is supposed to take 6 doses before he goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. Can he do this?
Explain your answer using charts, tables, pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Yes. Jared will get doses at 2:20, 3:05, 3:50, 4:35, 5:20, and 6:05.

October 30, 2006

On Halloween night, Mrs. Errato noticed that she had fewer than 20 pieces of candy left in her candy bowl. Since it was getting late, she figured that the next time the doorbell rang, she would give away the remaining candy so each child would receive an equal share. She figured if she had two trick-or-treaters she would have one piece of candy remaining. She then realized if she had three or four trick-or-treaters she would still have a piece of candy remaining. How many pieces of candy did Mrs. Errato have in her candy bowl?

ANSWER: Mrs. Errato had 13 pieces of candy.

October 23, 2006

Six students had a race on the playground.
Two students tied for second. Sara was one of them.
Tess was ahead of Graham. Graham beat Dan. Joe came in last.
Reggie was beaten by only one other student.
Who won the race?

Show your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.

Answer: Tess won the race. Sara and Reggie tied for second. Graham was third. Dan was fourth and Joe was fifth.

October 16, 2006

Problem: Michael parks his car in the "Park and Ride"parking lot from 11:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. How much will he owe the parking attendant if he pays the least expensive rate? Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, or words.


Park and Ride Rates:
First Hour $0.75
Each Additional Hour $0.60
Daily Rate (Over 6 Hours) $3.00

Answer: Michael will owe $3.75 unless he is allowed to pay the 6 hour rate.

October 9, 2006

Problem:Find all the numbers that divide 100 with a remainder of 4.
What is the largest two-digit divisor that can divide 100 and still have a remainder of 4?
Find all the numbers that divide 216 with a remainder of 6.
Explain your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.


Answers: 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, and 96 all divide 100 and have a remainder of 4. 96 is the largest.

October 2, 2006

Problem: Hank's dad pays him for picking pumpkins. Each hour he works he increases his pay. The first hour Hank earned 25 cents, the second hour he earned 50 cents, and the third hour he earned $1 and so on, doubling the amount each hour.
How much money will Hank earn if he works six hours?
How much money will Hank earn after ten hours?
How many hours will Hand need to work to earn at least $10.00?

Answers:
Hank will earn $15.75 after six hours.
Hank will earn $225.75 after ten hours.
Hank will need to work 6 hours to earn at least $10.00.

September 25, 2006

Problem: One section of a book contains six pages. The sum of all the page numbers in the section is 525. What are the page numbers?

Answer: The page numbers are 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, and 90.

September 18, 2006

PROBLEM: Myra is more than 20 years old and less than 60 years old. She can count by 7's to reach her age. Next year, she will be able to count by 5's to reach her age. How old is Myra? Show or explain your strategy for solving this problem.

Answer: Myra is 49 years old. Next year she will be 50 years old.

September 11, 2006

PROBLEM:   Mr. Thomas has a peach orchard 75 feet wide and 75 feet long. His peach trees are planted 25 feet apart. Each tree produces 100 peaches. How many peaches will he get from his orchard?

ANSWER:   Mr. Thomas will get 1600 peaches from his orchard.

Find all the numbers that divide 100 with a remainder of 4.
What is the largest two-digit divisor that can divide 100 and still have a remainder of 4?

Find all the numbers that divide 216 with a remainder of 6.

Explain your answers using pictures, numbers, or words.