When you wish upon a fluff.
You know those cute yellow flowers you see in the grass? Or have you seen round, white poofs of fluff that you can blow into the air to make a wish? Those two flowers are the same flower. They’re called “dandelions,” which comes from the French words for “lion’s tooth.” They’re bright and friendly-looking, but grown-ups can’t stand them. Dandelions are weeds, meaning they suck up more than their share of water and vitamins from the dirt. That makes it harder for grass to grow. But until the 1800s, people used to grow dandelions on purpose. We can eat any part of the flower — the leaves taste pretty good in a salad! Luckily for us, each flower holds up to 400 seeds, which can sail as far as 5 km. Dandelions are here to stay.
Wee ones: If you have 7 yellow dandelions and 4 white fluffy dandelions, of which kind do you have more?
Little kids: If 1 dandelion seed sails 5 km in one direction, and another seed flies 5 km in the opposite direction, what’s the farthest apart they can land? Bonus: If each time you blow on a dandelion you blow 5 seeds free, how many wishes does it take to blow 20 seeds away?
Big kids: Dandelions can have up to 400 seeds, but they usually have around 180. How many more seeds does a mega-fluffy 400-seed dandelion have than the usual? Bonus: If you blow off 300 seeds, and each of those makes a new flower that sends off 300 seeds, how many seeds sail off in that 2nd round? (Hint if needed: what if each of the 300 sent off just 3 seeds…then what if each sent off 30 seeds instead…then how about 300?)
Answers:
Wee ones: More yellow dandelions.
Little kids: 10 km apart. Bonus: 4 wishes: 5, 10, 15, 20.
Big kids: 220 seeds. Bonus: 90,000 seeds!
Wee ones: If you have 7 yellow dandelions and 4 white fluffy dandelions, of which kind do you have more?
Little kids: If 1 dandelion seed sails 5 km in one direction, and another seed flies 5 km in the opposite direction, what’s the farthest apart they can land? Bonus: If each time you blow on a dandelion you blow 5 seeds free, how many wishes does it take to blow 20 seeds away?
Big kids: Dandelions can have up to 400 seeds, but they usually have around 180. How many more seeds does a mega-fluffy 400-seed dandelion have than the usual? Bonus: If you blow off 300 seeds, and each of those makes a new flower that sends off 300 seeds, how many seeds sail off in that 2nd round? (Hint if needed: what if each of the 300 sent off just 3 seeds…then what if each sent off 30 seeds instead…then how about 300?)
Answers:
Wee ones: More yellow dandelions.
Little kids: 10 km apart. Bonus: 4 wishes: 5, 10, 15, 20.
Big kids: 220 seeds. Bonus: 90,000 seeds!