November Math Problems 2015

Problems of the Month:

turkey for turkey math

Turkeys

Early Childhood Tasks:

An adult male turkey called  gobbler weighs between 16 to 22 pounds. A female turkey called a hen is smaller, weighing between 8 to 12 pounds. A group of turkeys is called a rafter.

  • When it comes to male and female turkeys, are gobblers or hens larger? How do you know?

  • What is the difference in weight between a gobbler and a hen? Prove your answer using a number line model

  • How many legs are there in a rafter of 10 turkeys? Use a math drawing and a matching equation to prove your answer.


Middle Grades:

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.

  • Turkeys have between 5000 and 6000 feathers. If I have 6 turkeys, about how many feathers could there be?

  • Show a range of answers to this questions.

  • Graph your answer on a number line.

  • Write your answer using base 10 notation.


A math problem from the Looney Math archives ....

Joey finished his 1 mile run in 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

  • If Joey was racing against a turkey, who would win?

Wild turkeys can run at speeds up to 25 miles per hour.

  • Assuming a turkey could do the one mile run, how long it would take a turkey to complete the one mile run?

  • Who would be faster, the turkey or Joey?

  • Explain.

Each month, Looney Math Consulting offers resources for math educatorsin the form of word problems, book recommendations and helpful links.