Trying to Walk and Chew Gum
Some foods are so weird that we have to wonder who first got the idea to try eating them. Somewhere along the line, someone decided to peel the gummy stuff from the inside of a tree and chew on it. Gum is naturally made in trees: it’s the “resin” or sap from inside the trunk.
As far back as 9,000 years ago humans were chewing the gum from birch trees. Since then it’s become all the rage, with 374 trillion sticks of gum now made every year. They say you “can’t walk and chew gum at the same time”…but given how much gum gets chewed, hopefully people have figured out how by now.
As far back as 9,000 years ago humans were chewing the gum from birch trees. Since then it’s become all the rage, with 374 trillion sticks of gum now made every year. They say you “can’t walk and chew gum at the same time”…but given how much gum gets chewed, hopefully people have figured out how by now.
Questions
Wee ones: The record for longest time chewing gum is 8 hours! What numbers would you say to count them off?
Little kids: If you walk 2 steps, then chew twice, then walk 4 steps, then chew 4 times, then take 6 steps…what do you probably do next? Bonus: If you try 12 times to blow a bubble with your gum and you succeed every time except the last, how many bubbles do you blow?
Big kids: The largest bubble-gum bubble ever blown was 60 centimetres wide. If your head is 19 cm wide, how much wider than your head was that bubble? Bonus: They say people chew an average of 300 sticks of gum per person in a year. If you chewed at that rate, how many sticks would you chew each month? (Hint if needed: 12 is 3 x 4, so to divide by 12, you can divide by 3, then by 4…)
Little kids: If you walk 2 steps, then chew twice, then walk 4 steps, then chew 4 times, then take 6 steps…what do you probably do next? Bonus: If you try 12 times to blow a bubble with your gum and you succeed every time except the last, how many bubbles do you blow?
Big kids: The largest bubble-gum bubble ever blown was 60 centimetres wide. If your head is 19 cm wide, how much wider than your head was that bubble? Bonus: They say people chew an average of 300 sticks of gum per person in a year. If you chewed at that rate, how many sticks would you chew each month? (Hint if needed: 12 is 3 x 4, so to divide by 12, you can divide by 3, then by 4…)
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Little kids: Chew 6 times (2, 4, 6). Bonus: 11 bubbles.
Big kids: 41 cm. Bonus: 25 sticks a month…about 1 per day. But some people never chew, so others are chewing a lot!
Little kids: Chew 6 times (2, 4, 6). Bonus: 11 bubbles.
Big kids: 41 cm. Bonus: 25 sticks a month…about 1 per day. But some people never chew, so others are chewing a lot!