Can you keep a secret?
Have you ever kept a secret? A secret is something you know that you aren’t supposed to tell anyone else. You might be the only person who knows, or it might be a story from someone else who whispered it to you and asked you to keep it secret. The thing is, a lot of people aren’t so good at keeping secrets. They say, “Oh, I’ll just tell my one friend and tell her not to tell anyone…” thinking it can’t be so bad if only one more person knows. The problem is, that friend might decide to tell 1 friend and ask that person to keep the secret, then that person might do the same thing…pretty soon 15 or 20 people know, even though no one was supposed to talk about it! When you do the math, you see that just a few blabbermouths can spread a secret fast.
Wee ones: If you know a secret that you tell to a friend, and your friend tells a friend, at least how many people know the secret now?
Little kids: If you spill a secret to 2 friends, who each tell 2 friends, at least how many people know the secret now? Bonus: If you hear the secret at 2 pm, tell your friends 2 hours later, and they tell their friends 2 hours after that, at what time do the last people hear it?
Big kids: Let’s say each person is really bad and tells 3 people a secret. Starting with that first person, how many rounds of telling does it take for at least 30 people to hear it? (To be clear, the first person telling 3 people counts as the 1st round — and it’s always new people who hear it.) Bonus: How many new people hear it in the round after that?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 people.
Little kids: 7 people: you, your 2 friends, and the 4 people they told. Bonus: At 6 pm.
Big kids: It takes just 3 rounds, the 1st round adds 3 friends, then they add 9 (for a total of 12 + the starter), then those 9 people add 27 more (for a total of 12 + 27 + the starter, or 40 people). Bonus:81 people (27 x 3).
Wee ones: If you know a secret that you tell to a friend, and your friend tells a friend, at least how many people know the secret now?
Little kids: If you spill a secret to 2 friends, who each tell 2 friends, at least how many people know the secret now? Bonus: If you hear the secret at 2 pm, tell your friends 2 hours later, and they tell their friends 2 hours after that, at what time do the last people hear it?
Big kids: Let’s say each person is really bad and tells 3 people a secret. Starting with that first person, how many rounds of telling does it take for at least 30 people to hear it? (To be clear, the first person telling 3 people counts as the 1st round — and it’s always new people who hear it.) Bonus: How many new people hear it in the round after that?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 people.
Little kids: 7 people: you, your 2 friends, and the 4 people they told. Bonus: At 6 pm.
Big kids: It takes just 3 rounds, the 1st round adds 3 friends, then they add 9 (for a total of 12 + the starter), then those 9 people add 27 more (for a total of 12 + 27 + the starter, or 40 people). Bonus:81 people (27 x 3).