March Challenge - Years 5 & 6

The Big Apple Orchard in New York has some of the biggest apples in the world.  Most apples grown here weigh in at over 1 kg.  But this year there is a problem.  An army of Scarlet Hairy Caterpillars is back in town munching through hundreds of Big Apple’s apples.

When Alex goes apple picking he finds that one out of eight apples has a caterpillar drilling a hole to the core.  “I can’t sell any of these apples which the caterpillars have had a go at!”

Some pickers are afraid of the enormous caterpillars, but others aren’t so bothered.  Henry says, “Actually, they’re alright.  The hairs tickle on the way down but really they taste just like apples!”

Problem:  How many saleable apples are there out of a crop of 112?

Hint: A chart might help you get started (although you may be able to do with just a couple of clever calculations).

Saleable apples	Apples attacked	Total number of apples picked
7	1	8

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 28^th March.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

February Challenge - Years 1 & 2

Jack and Adele were both feeling grumpy.  It was a very hot day and they were stuck inside the classroom practising some really hard spellings.  Suddenly Adele shouted, “Move your arm!  It’s on my side of the table!”

            “No, it’s not! That’s my side,” shouted Jack angrily.  “And anyway, your pencil case is on my side of the table!” he moaned, shoving it to the floor.

            “Now, now stop all this noise,” said their teacher.  “I’ve got an idea.  I will draw a line to divide your table in half.  Then you will each have exactly the same amount of space and there will be no more arguing!”

Can you divide the rectangular table so that the two children have exactly the same amount of space?  Find different ways to divide the table into equal parts.  You can draw your solution on a piece of A4 paper pretending that the paper is the table top.

Hint:  Try different ways of folding the paper to get two equal halves.  Perhaps cutting may also allow you to test if your two halves are equal by laying them on top of each other.

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 28^th February.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

February Challenge - Years 3 & 4

A little bit of logical thinking needed for this one!

Each letter is worth a number of points. The points are added up to make the total for the word. Try to work out the number of points for each letter and then find the value of the last word.

TEE = 4   (so T + E + E = 4)

TEN = 6   (so T + E + N = 6)

NEST = 10   (so N + E + S + T = 10)

TENTS = ?   (How many points would TENTS be?)

Hint:  Start by finding the value of S.  What is the difference between TEN and NEST (both in total value and in letters)?

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 28^th February.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

February Challenge - Years 5 & 6

Using the numbers given, complete the number sentences below.  You may only use each value once.

1   5   9   10   11   15   18   20

____ + ____ = 29

____ + ____ + ____= 38

____ + ____ + ____ = 22

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 28^th February.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

January Challenge - Years 1 & 2

Jane has a bag with 2 coins inside.  Both of the coins have the same value.  How much money could be inside her bag?

Hint:  Use real coins to find all the possibilities.

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 31^st January.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

January Challenge - Year 3 & 4

To get into the Metropolitan Mole Service wasn’t easy.  About 1000 moles applied every year for only 50 places.  The entrance test included an insect identification exam, a tunnel test and a problem-solving exercise.

Sergeant Star-nosed Moleskin devised a problem he though would sort out the applicants, ‘This will be a whole lot of fun for me.  We do get some applicants who make a fuss and say it’s too difficult – there are always some who make a mountain out of a molehill.’

All the applicants were nervous and none more so than Mike Burrow.  This was his big day and a chance for him to break free from his job at the London Underground digging new tunnels, ‘My dad was a plainclothes mole for 20 years and I aim to follow in his footsteps.  Let’s just hope I’ve got what it takes!’

Sergeant Star-nosed Moleskin gathered the applicants together in the parade ground and read out the problem, ‘Right then you ‘oribble lot, your task is this:  you are required to dig some mounds in a square shape so that each side of the square has eight mounds.  You have 20 minutes from now – so start digging!’

 

Problem:  How many mounds should the moles dig?

Hint: Draw a picture to check your answer, or use counters to represent the mounds.

If you would like an extra challenge try this:  The moles need to dig a rectangle with 30 mounds.  What could the length and width of this rectangle be?

All Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 31^st January.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.

January Challenge - Years 5 & 6

At noon on New Year’s Day, Elizabeth wondered how many hours there were left in 2017.  She then wondered how many minutes were left.  Help Elizabeth to calculate how many hours were left in 2017, and then how many minutes.

For an extra challenge, calculate how many seconds were left in 2017.

Solutions are to be completed by Tuesday 31st January.  Please post them into the Maths Challenge Box in the picture book library.