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March Problems
Number Theory | Measurement | Geometry |
Patterns, Algebra, and Functions | Data,
Statistics, and Probability
Number Theory
Start out simple...
Tables And Stools
 
1. Vladmir builds 3 legged stools and 4 legged tables. Last
month he used 72 legs to build 3 more stools than tables.
How many stools and how many tables did he build?
Rainforests
 
2. Rainforests cover only a small part of the Earth, but
they are home to more than half the world's plants and
animals. It is estimated that rainforests are cut down at
the rate of 100 trees in a minute. At this rate, how many
are cut down every 24 hours? Every week? Explain your
answer.
Now try to work this out...
Who Are We?
3. There are 2 prime numbers between 100 and 199 such that
the tens digit is a prime number, the ones digit is a prime
number, and the tens and ones digits taken together are a 2
digit prime number. Find the sum of these 2 prime numbers.
Decisions, Decisions
4. Seymore has just gotten a new job. On his first day, the
boss gave him 2 choices for his salary. First Choice: Start
at $30,000 and get a 5% raise at the end of every year.
Second
Choice: Start at $23,000 and get a $5000 raise at the end of
each year. Calculate how much Seymore would be making at the
start of the 5th year. Which is the better choice? Explain
how you got your answer.
This will really challenge
you...
Car Shopping
5. Shawn bought a car for $5600. He sold it to Rachael for
5/6 the price he paid for it. Rachael sold it to Ray for 1/5
less than she paid for it. Ray sold it to Rick for 3/4 what
he paid. What did Rick pay for the car?
Measurement
Start out simple...
Cubit
6. The ancient Egyptians used a measurement called a cubit
to build the pyramids. A cubit was the distance from the
bent elbow to the end of the middle finger. Using your own
self as a measurement, find out how many inches in a cubit.
If a pyramid is 100 cubits long, about how many inches is
that?
Now try to work this out...
Mayan Pyramids
7. The Mayans of Mexico and Central America built huge
pyramids of solid stone block.. The square base of one
pyramid is 32 blocks. Each block is 6' x 6' x 6'. What is
the surface area of the base before the next layer is put
on? Use only the sides you can see.
This will really challenge
you...
Surface Area
8. Here is a sketch of a city park. It is 400 ' long and 300
' wide. The sidewalks are 6 ' wide. What is the surface area
of the sidewalk?
Geometry
Start out simple...
L
9. There are 9 cubes joined together in the shape of an L.
If this is dipped in red paint and then taken apart, how
many faces will be red?
Now try to work this out...
Hexagonal Tiles (from PROBLEM SOLVING
CONNECTIONS)
10. In the center of Memorial Park is a fountain in the
shape of a hexagon. Workers are ringing the fountain in
hexagonal tiles. The first ring of tiles is made of black
tiles. The next ring is made of white tiles. The next black,
and so on. How many hexagonal
tiles will the workers use in the fourth ring?
In all, the workers completed 15 rings. What color were the
tiles in the fifteenth ring? How many did they need for this
ring?
This will really challenge
you...
Triangular Tessellation
11. This is an equilateral triangle with sides 3 feet long.
Gary plans on filling in the entire triangle with the
smallest triangles. How many would he need? How many would
he need to make a design that tessellates 12 ' long and 6 '
wide?
Patterns, Algebra, And Functions
Start out simple...
Mile Swim
12. Tiana and Shana are training for a mile swim. Each time
they tried to get better times. The first week the best time
for each of them was 70 minutes. Then Tiana had a best time
of 66 minutes the second week, 67 the third week, 63 the
fourth week and 64 the
fifth week. Shana had a best time of 69 minutes the second
week, 67 the third week, 66 the fourth week, and 64 the
fifth week. If they continued at this rate, who would have
the best time after 12 weeks of training? What would that
time be?
Now try to work this out...
Legos
13. Jody, Amy, and Tim are building a model out of Legos.
The top level is a 1 by 2 rectangle. The level directly
underneath is a 2 by 3 rectangle. The level underneath is a
3 by 4 rectangle. How many Legos will they need if their
building is to be 12 levels high?
Make a chart to show your work.
This will really challenge
you...
Coin Count (from MATH FORUM)
14. Everyday when Lisa returns from school she puts her
change from buying lunch into a jar on her dresser. This
weekend she decided to count her savings. She found that she
had 72 coins—all nickels and dimes. The total amount
was $4.95. How many coins of each kind did she have? See if
you can find 2 different ways to solve this. Don't forget to
explain your process.
Data, Statistics, And
Probability
Start out simple...
Jellybean Jumble (from MATH
FORUM)
15. Mr. Cal Q. Later has a bag of jellybeans. As he walks
around the room, he places a few jellybeans on everyone's
desk—everyone's, that is, except Leo. On Leo's desk he
places the bag with the remaining jellybeans. Here are the
numbers:
17: Harumi
14: Melissa
13: Marcus, Evelyn
12: Kim, Toby, Lori
11: Jason
9: Efram, Inga
8: Hannah
6: Geoff
3: Luc
2: Muriel
Muriel and Luc are not worried because they know that Mr.
Later is fair. Mr. Later tells the students that Leo's
jellybeans are all that remain in the bag. If they figure
out how many are in there, they will each get to eat the
average number of jellybeans which
is 10. How many jellybeans are in Leo's bag?
Now try to work this out...
The Prom
16. The Prom Committee is setting up card tables for the
prom. One table seats 4, 2 tables together would seat 6, 3
tables 8. No table seats more than 12. Show 3 different ways
that 16 couples could be seated for the Prom.
This will really challenge
you...
Graph It!
17. Make a double bar graph for the following information:
Mark's Math Test Scores
SEMESTER 1: 99, 87, 90, 76, 100
SEMESTER 2: 100, 85, 100, 95, 90
Now, find the range, median, mode, and mean for each
semester.
March
Solutions
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