September (Grades 3-5)
Farms
As a local farmer began to harvest his crops this fall, he counted twelve rows of corn, each with twelve stalks to harvest. He also counted six pumpkin patches, each with eleven, ripe pumpkins. Finally, he counted nine apple trees, each with eight apples ready to pick. How many total fruits and vegetables are ready for harvest on his farm? Draw a math model.
Each year, a farm loses approximately ¼ of its crops to disease, insects or frost. Of the remaining crops, 2/3 are sold to local markets. What fraction of the crops remains for the farmer and his family? Write a matching equation with a variable.
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A twist on a classic problem …
At the farm, the cats like to chase the turkeys in their pen. I looked inside and counted 19 animal heads and 38 legs.
How many cats and how many turkeys were in the pen? Show how you know.
Monarch Butterflies
Each fall, monarch butterflies migrate from the Eastern states to Southern California and Mexico, traveling 2,500 to seek a warmer winter climate. As our weather turns cooler, and butterflies begin their journey south.
Once the temperature drops in winter, butterflies pack closely together onto trees and branches. The average monarch butterfly weights 500 mg. How much would a branch covered with 12,000 butterflies weigh in grams? In kilograms? Explain your thinking.
Football
In a football game, a touchdown is awarded 6 points, plus one more for a field goal, for a total of 7 points. The final score of a football game was 45 to 35.
How many touchdowns could the losing team have scored?
How many could the winning team have scored? Explain your thinking.
Stars
The brightest star in our sky is Sirius, which is 8.6 light years away. This means the light we see from Sirius left that star 8.6 years ago ... so we are kind of looking back in time!
If a light year (the distance light travels in one year) is approximately 5,878,489,000,000 miles, about how far away from Earth is the star Sirius? Explain how you know.
