AN ARM AND A…TENTACLE
We feel kind of bad about what we said about squid the other day. True, they aren’t fuzzy like farm animals. But squid prove that you don’t have to be good-looking to be smart: they’re among the most intelligent animals in the ocean. They even have eyeballs that look like ours.
By the way, those things sticking out aren’t called “legs.” Squid have 2 long “tentacles” and 8 shorter “arms,” which makes the math much more interesting.
By the way, those things sticking out aren’t called “legs.” Squid have 2 long “tentacles” and 8 shorter “arms,” which makes the math much more interesting.
Questions
Wee ones (counting on fingers): If you have 2 squid, how many arms do they have altogether?
Little kids: Squid can squirt ink to defend themselves from enemies. If a squid squirts 3 cups of ink each time, how much ink squirts out in 5 squirts? Bonus: If you get squid-ink magic markers, and the ink from one squirt can fill 20 markers, how many markers can you make from 5 squirts? (Careful with that stuff – it isn’t washable).
Big kids: If the squid at the aquarium have 48 arms in total, how many squid live there? Bonus: It turns out we don’t call them legs on an octopus either: an octopus has 2 tentacles and 6 arms. If the aquarium has equal numbers of octopus and squid, and there are 28 arms in total, how many of each animal live there?
:
Little kids: Squid can squirt ink to defend themselves from enemies. If a squid squirts 3 cups of ink each time, how much ink squirts out in 5 squirts? Bonus: If you get squid-ink magic markers, and the ink from one squirt can fill 20 markers, how many markers can you make from 5 squirts? (Careful with that stuff – it isn’t washable).
Big kids: If the squid at the aquarium have 48 arms in total, how many squid live there? Bonus: It turns out we don’t call them legs on an octopus either: an octopus has 2 tentacles and 6 arms. If the aquarium has equal numbers of octopus and squid, and there are 28 arms in total, how many of each animal live there?
:
Answers:
Wee ones: 16 arms, since tentacles don’t count.
Little kids: 15 cups of ink. Bonus: 100 squid-ink markers.
Big kids: 6 squid (again, each has only 8 “arms”). Bonus: 2 of each, because a squid and an octopus together have 14 arms.
Little kids: 15 cups of ink. Bonus: 100 squid-ink markers.
Big kids: 6 squid (again, each has only 8 “arms”). Bonus: 2 of each, because a squid and an octopus together have 14 arms.