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Archive for the ‘middle school’ Category
Halloween Math : Witches vs Zombies 1
October 16, 2022
There has been a real world Witches Vs Zombie Fight.
The witches of the Haunted House in Salem, Massachusetts, are at war with the Zombies of The Nightmare Factory nearby. A witch tripped a Zombie who was wearing a straight jacket!!!! And … read it for yourself in the Daily Mail, UK.
Links: Top Grossing Horror Movies
Blair Witch Project Budget here.
Amazing and Terrifying Wildfire Maths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . METRIC UNITS
July 25, 2022
With wildfires burning across the US and Europe , Mathspig had to update this firefighter maths post for middle school classrooms.
Radiant Heat Stats WA Fire Dept FACEBOOK, Australian Bushfires 14 NOV 2019 MyFireWatch WA
Wildfires USA 2022 Map: NASA
METRIC UNITS
Background Story
On 5th August 1949 Wag Dodge was dropped by parachute with 14 other fire fighters into Mann Gulch, a steep-sided gully in a Montana pine forest. Fire fighters who parachute in to put out small blazes started by lightening are called Smoke Jumpers. As they worked their way down the sides of the gully the breeze was blowing away from them. But the wind soon shifted. This produced an updraft, which increases the speed of the fire front. The 15 Smoke Jumpers turned and started running for their lives uphill.
HOW FAST CAN YOU RUN?
METRIC UNITS
Time Trial:
Mark out a 10 m course. Make 3 time trials.
t1 =
t2 =
t3=
Average your time:
tav = (t1 + t2 + t3)/ 3 =
Your Speed S = 10/tav = ……… m/sec
HOW FAST IS A GRASS FIRE?
This will, of course, vary depending on the wind speed. A typical grass fire in Australia in a flat area can travel at 20kph (up to 30 kph) in a gentle breeze.
Fire Front Speed Grass Fire
Fire Front Speed = 20 kph = 20 x1000/(60 x 60)
= 20 x 0.27777777 = 20 x 0.28 m/sec
= 5.6 m/sec
CAN YOU OUT RUN A FIRE?
Average Running Speed Boy 13–14 yo = 3.0 m/sec
Average Running Speed Girl 13–14 yo = 2.4 m/sec
We’ll assume, boy or girl, that you are really motivated and can run away from the fire at top speed of 3.0 m/sec. Now calculate the distance you can run and the fire front moves in 10 secs intervals up to 1 minute.
This is not looking good. See more Firefighters Need Maths here.
We can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations. Wildfire Algebra: Detailed Worksheet using simultaneous equations and solutions here.
NOW YOU ARE RUNNING UP HILL. WHAT HAPPENS?
We’ll assume, due to being motivated by having a fire licking your heels, that you can run at your top speed up hill for a short time, at least. But here is the problem.
Heat rises and so there is a Chimney Effect pushing the fire uphill. The rule of thumb used by fire fighters is:
Each 10º increase in slope, the fire front speed doubles.
Now you can calculate the distance travelled by the fire front up a slope at a 30º angle.
Don’t forget you can use the WEB 2.0 Calculator here.
Even at your top running speed, which is unlikely up a slope, you can run 180 m in 1 minute. In that time the forefront has moved 2688 m or 2.7 km.
It depends how far away you are from the fire front, but it seems you cannot out run this fire front.
Again we can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations.
See Firefighters Need Maths here.
Wildfire Algebra: Worksheet and solutions here.
CAN YOU OUT RUN A WILD FIRE?
High winds can turn a bush or forrest fire into a WILD FIRE with wind speeds up to 110 kph and temperatures up to 2000 °C, which can and does melt glass and cars.
The fire front speed doubles with every 10º, so speeds for the fire front can reach 220 kph, 330kph and up to 550kph.
What happened to the Smoke Jumpers?
When the fire front changed direction Wag Dodge and 14 other Smoke Jumpers found themselves running for their lives up a steep slope. What did Wag do next?
ANS: Here’s the amazing thing. Wag realised he could not out run the fire at that point. So he stopped. Took off his back pack. Took out some MATCHES and lit a fire in the grassy patch in front of him. Just before the firewall hit he threw himself face down on the burnt patch. He survived. The other 14 firefighters did not.
Stranger Things Math: Eleven and the Galton Board
July 3, 2022
NOTE: Michael (above), who seems appropriately scary for this post, uses a commercial Galton Board. It has one flaw. Many balls feed into the grid at once and this will change the pathways taken because the balls bump into one another. The best results come from dropping in the balls one at a time. If you had the patience to drop in 3,000 balls one at a time.
20 Gobsmacklingly AMAZING numbers … Revisited
May 25, 2021… these nos. are amaaaazing but no one could find the answers in the earlier post.
………………………………………………………..
Click on the POP-UP answers under each question.
1. How many bristles in a toothbrush?
2. What % of Oxygen in the atmosphere comes from forests?
3. How loud was the loudest recorded human scream?
4. How many apples could kill an average-sized adult?
5. How many countries in Africa?
6. What happens when you Google this number, 241543903?
7. How many vertebrae in a giraffe’s neck?
8. What is the highest recorded wind speed?
9. What is the world record high-jump height for a guinea pig?
10. How many times does England fit into Australia?
11. How much did the most expensive dessert ever cost?
14. How many burgers does McDonalds sell a second worldwide?
16. How many times was the most frequently married person in the world, married?
17. Why is Zero Zero Zero like 123?
18. What is the world record for the greatest number of snorts in 10 seconds?
19. How long would it take to grow your hair to your feet?
20. What number causes the greatest loss of money in the world?
LINKS:
1. How many bristles in a toothbrush? HERE
2. What % of Oxygen in the atmosphere comes from forests? HERE
3. 3. How loud was the loudest recorded human scream? GOOGLE IT!
4. How many apples could kill an average-sized adult? HERE
5. 5. How many countries in Africa? GOOGLE IT!
6. What happens when you Google this number: 241543903? HERE
7. How many vertebrae in a giraffe’s neck? HERE
8. What is the highest recorded wind speed? HERE and HERE
9. What is the world record high-jump height for a guinea pig? GOOGLE IT!
10. How many times does England fit into Australia? GOOGLE IT!
11. How much did the most expensive dessert ever cost? GOOGLE AGAIN.
12. Why is 70 a weird number? HERE
13. Why Google Googol? HERE
14. How many burgers does McDonalds sell a second worldwide? HERE
15. If the population of the world spread across the USA , what area would we get each?
GOOGLE THE NUMBERS!
16. How many times was the most frequently married person in the world, married?
GOOGLE HIM.
17. Why is Zero Zero Zero like 123? HERE
18. What is the world record for the greatest number of snorts in 10 seconds? HERE
19. How long would it take to grow your hair to your feet? HERE
20. 20. What number causes the greatest loss of money in the world? HERE
20 AMAZING numbers
April 26, 2021… so amaaaazing you’ll have to check them for yourself!
POP UP ANSWERS … click on Q.
1. How many bristles in a toothbrush?
2. What % of Oxygen in the atmosphere comes from forests?
3. How loud was the loudest recorded human scream?
4. How many apples could kill an average-sized adult?
5. How many countries in Africa?
6. What happens when you Google this number, 241543903?
7. How many vertebrae in a giraffe’s neck
8. What is the highest recorded wind speed?
9. What is the world record high-jump height for a guinea pig?
10. How many times does England fit into Australia?
11. How much did the most expensive dessert ever cost?
14. How many burgers does McDonalds sell a second worldwide?
16. How many times was the most frequently married person in the world, married?
17. Why is Zero Zero Zero like 123?
18. What is the world record for the greatest number of snorts in 10 seconds?
19. How long would it take to grow your hair to your feet?
20. What number causes the greatest loss of money in the world?
LINKS:
1. How many bristles in a toothbrush? HERE
2. What % of Oxygen in the atmosphere comes from forests? HERE
3. 3. How loud was the loudest recorded human scream? GOOGLE IT!
4. How many apples could kill an average-sized adult? HERE
5. 5. How many countries in Africa? GOOGLE IT!
6. What happens when you Google this number: 241543903? HERE
7. How many vertebrae in a giraffe’s neck? HERE
8. What is the highest recorded wind speed? HERE and HERE
9. What is the world record high-jump height for a guinea pig? GOOGLE IT!
10. How many times does England fit into Australia? GOOGLE IT!
11. How much did the most expensive dessert ever cost? GOOGLE AGAIN.
12. Why is 70 a weird number? HERE
13. Why Google Googol? HERE
14. How many burgers does McDonalds sell a second worldwide? HERE
15. If the population of the world spread across the USA , what area would we get each?
GOOGLE THE NUMBERS!
16. How many times was the most frequently married person in the world, married?
GOOGLE HIM.
17. Why is Zero Zero Zero like 123? HERE
18. What is the world record for the greatest number of snorts in 10 seconds? HERE
19. How long would it take to grow your hair to your feet? HERE
20. 20. What number causes the greatest loss of money in the world? HERE
April Fool Math TEST … USA units
March 22, 20212020 passed in a blur. Now we need to grab the student’s attention. This April Fool Maths Test should do it.
Tell your year 8 or 9 students this test is designed to test their ability to concentrate and use logic while doing a challenging test under pressure.
Tell students to circle the ‘correct’ answer. Then wait to see how long it takes them to think you have totally lost the plot! You can make copies of the test using the PDF links below. You can put the answers up later on the smartboard or just read out the answers.
Mathspig April Fools Math Test 1 USA
Amazing and Terrifying Wildfire Maths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . METRIC UNITS
November 13, 2019
With the catastrophic Californian fires burning into November and wildfires currently burning in NSW and Qld, Australia, I had to repost this firefighter maths for middle school classrooms.
Radiant Heat Stats WA Fire Dept FACEBOOK, Australian Bushfires 14 NOV 2019 MyFireWatch WA
Wildfires USA 2019 Map: Ecowest,
METRIC UNITS
Background Story
On 5th August 1949 Wag Dodge was dropped by parachute with 14 other fire fighters into Mann Gulch, a steep-sided gully in a Montana pine forest. Fire fighters who parachute in to put out small blazes started by lightening are called Smoke Jumpers. As they worked their way down the sides of the gully the breeze was blowing away from them. But the wind soon shifted. This produced an updraft, which increases the speed of the fire front. The 15 Smoke Jumpers turned and started running for their lives uphill.
HOW FAST CAN YOU RUN?
METRIC UNITS
Time Trial:
Mark out a 10 m course. Make 3 time trials.
t1 =
t2 =
t3=
Average your time:
tav = (t1 + t2 + t3)/ 3 =
Your Speed S = 10/tav = ……… m/sec
HOW FAST IS A GRASS FIRE?
This will, of course, vary depending on the wind speed. A typical grass fire in Australia in a flat area can travel at 20kph (up to 30 kph) in a gentle breeze.
Fire Front Speed Grass Fire
Fire Front Speed = 20 kph = 20 x1000/(60 x 60)
= 20 x 0.27777777 = 20 x 0.28 m/sec
= 5.6 m/sec
CAN YOU OUT RUN A FIRE?
Average Running Speed Boy 13–14 yo = 3.0 m/sec
Average Running Speed Girl 13–14 yo = 2.4 m/sec
We’ll assume, boy or girl, that you are really motivated and can run away from the fire at top speed of 3.0 m/sec. Now calculate the distance you can run and the fire front moves in 10 secs intervals up to 1 minute.
This is not looking good. See more Firefighters Need Maths here.
We can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations. Wildfire Algebra: Detailed Worksheet using simultaneous equations and solutions here.
NOW YOU ARE RUNNING UP HILL. WHAT HAPPENS?
We’ll assume, due to being motivated by having a fire licking your heels, that you can run at your top speed up hill for a short time, at least. But here is the problem.
Heat rises and so there is a Chimney Effect pushing the fire uphill. The rule of thumb used by fire fighters is:
Each 10º increase in slope, the fire front speed doubles.
Now you can calculate the distance travelled by the fire front up a slope at a 30º angle.
Don’t forget you can use the WEB 2.0 Calculator here.
Even at your top running speed, which is unlikely up a slope, you can run 180 m in 1 minute. In that time the forefront has moved 2688 m or 2.7 km.
It depends how far away you are from the fire front, but it seems you cannot out run this fire front.
Again we can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations.
See Firefighters Need Maths here.
Wildfire Algebra: Worksheet and solutions here.
CAN YOU OUT RUN A WILD FIRE?
High winds can turn a bush or forrest fire into a WILD FIRE with wind speeds up to 110 kph and temperatures up to 2000 °C, which can and does melt glass and cars.
The fire front speed doubles with every 10º, so speeds for the fire front can reach 220 kph, 330kph and up to 550kph.
What happened to the Smoke Jumpers?
When the fire front changed direction Wag Dodge and 14 other Smoke Jumpers found themselves running for their lives up a steep slope. What did Wag do next?
ANS: Here’s the amazing thing. Wag realised he could not out run the fire at that point. So he stopped. Took off his back pack. Took out some MATCHES and lit a fire in the grassy patch in front of him. Just before the firewall hit he threw himself face down on the burnt patch. He survived. The other 14 firefighters did not.
April Fool Math TEST … USA units
March 27, 20192020 passed in a blur. Now we need to grab the student’s attention. This April Fool Maths Test should do it.
Tell your year 8 or 9 students this test is designed to test their ability to concentrate and use logic while doing a challenging test under pressure.
Tell students to circle the ‘correct’ answer. Then wait to see how long it takes them to think you have totally lost the plot! You can make copies of the test using the PDF links below. You can put the answers up later on the smartboard or just read out the answers.
Mathspig April Fools Math Test 1 USA
Mathspig Blog 