KMES Blog

Dear Students,

            When you have solved the problem, write about HOW you solved the problem and EXPLAIN your strategy. Your description is VERY important. We are looking for good problem solvers here, not just correct answers. Please include your teacher’s last name and your first name and last initial only.

            AFTER you have submitted your description, then you should read other solutions. Please write one thing you learned from someone else (maybe a different way to solve the problem). Be positive and complimentary.

            Thank you, Mrs. Penn

There is usually a line at the Pitch-A-Penny booth at the school carnival. If you can get 20 points you win a giant pizza from the Pizza Castle. Each player can toss four pennies, one at a time, at four plates. The largest plate is worth 5 points, the two middle-sized plates are worth 10 points each, and the very small plate is worth 20 points. How many possible ways can you earn 20 points with four penny tosses?

Holly needed 45 cents worth of stamps to send a letter to her pen pal. She looked at the stamps her mother had, and they were 15-cent, 10-cent, and 5-cent stamps. How many different combinations of stamps could Holly put on her letter?

Stuart and Marsha are playing a game called Pirates. They get 3 points every time they draw a yellow card, and 5 points every time they draw a purple card. Whoever gets 75 points first wins the game. Stuart has 41 points now, and he has 9 cards. How many cards does he have of each color?

Past Phillip’s house at the end of the road were empty fields. Phillip had lots of visitors to his yard. A large brown toad and a small raccoon came regularly. The toad came every 3 days, and the raccoon came every 7 days. How many times in six weeks would Phillip see the toad and the raccoon on the same day?

Conrad was scared as he knock on the door. A low voice said, “Before I open the door you must name the secret number.” Here are some clues:

• It is greater than 275.
• It is less than 325.
• If you count by 5s you say its name.
• It can be divided evenly by 3 and 9.

What is the secret number?

When the leaves turned color, Hal and Dalia began to see pumpkins. On the first day, Hal and Dalia each sold one pumpkin. The next day Hal sold 2 pumpkins and Dalia sold 4. On the third day Hal sold 4 pumpkins and Dalia sold 7. On the fourth day Hal sold 7 and Dalia sold 10. If Hal and Dalia kept selling pumpkins in the same way, how many pumpkins did Hal sell on the day Dalia sold 19?

Molly is going to do some errands on her way to her way to Marta’s apartments. She goes north 3 blocks, stops at the bakery and turns right. She goes east for 2 blocks and then turns left and goes 1 block north to the cleaners. Then she turns right, goes east 1 block, and turns right again. She goes 4 blocks south to Marta’s apartment. When Molly leaves her friend’s apartment, what is the quickest way for her to go home?

Troy was feeding the animals at the zoo. He started at the monkey’s cage. Then he walked down the hill 3 cages to feed the birds. They birds are in the first cage in the zoo. They Troy went up the hill 7 cages to feed the seals. From there he went down the ihll 5 cages to feed the bears. Next he went up the hill 8 cages to the elephants. They are in the last cage in the zoo. How many cages are there in the zoo?

Wilber gets on the elevator in a very tall building. Wilber is carrying five pizzas. He goes up to the 8^th floor, gets off the elevator, and delivers a pizza. He gets back on the elevator, goes down 4 floors, and delivers another pizza. He gets back on the elevator, goes up 11 floors, and delivers another pizza. He gets back on the elevator and goes up 5 floors to the top floor of the building. He delivers his last 2 pizzas on that floor. How many floors are there in the very tall building?