TEST #8: 20-May-2019
QUESTIONS:
1. You have to make every second count. Summer break is 78 days. How many seconds is that?
2. I got all 25 of you to get excited about math. If each of you get 25 more people excited about math, and then if each of them get 25 more people excited about math, how many total people will be excited about math?
3. Adam has $900 to invest for 7 years. If the interest rate is 8%, how much would he end up with?
4. How many different ways can you arrange the letters M-C-N-A-I-R?
5. Pete wants to triple his money in 20 years. What interest rate would he need (answer to at least one decimal place)?
6. If you have two dice (regular, six-sided), what is the probability that you roll a 4 or lower?
ANSWERS:
1. 6,739,200 ( 33% of students got question right)
2. 16,275 (50%)
3. $1,542 (44%)
4. 720 (11%)
5. 5.6% (17%)
6. 16.7% (0%)
TEST #7: 21-March-2019
QUESTIONS:
1. In January you learn that you own $1000 in taxes. Fortunately, your taxes aren’t due until April. How much do you need to save each month to have the money you need when the taxes are owed?
2. You pay sales tax every time you buy something. If you buy something for $19.86, and sales tax is 6.25%, how much sales tax do you pay?
3. The government taxes money you make on investments. How much money would you make if you invested $800 for 7 years at an interest rate of 6%?
4. You make $50,000 and pay 5% in taxes to North Carolina. 26% of all NC taxes go to schools. How much of your taxes went to schools?
5. There is a 2% chance that the US audits a tax payer. There is a 4% chance that North Carolina audits a tax payer. If there are 140,000 tax payers in Guilford County, how many will be audited by both the US and NC?
6. In 9 years you’ll need to pay $9000 in taxes. Right now you have $6000. What interest rate would you need to invest at to get the $9000 in 9 years?
ANSWERS:
1. $250 (75% of students got question correct)
2. $1.24 (25%)
3. $402.90 (44%)
4. $650 (38%)
5. 112 (19%)
6. 4.6% (31%)
TEST #6: 21-March-2019
QUESTIONS:
1. A kid weighing 50 pounds would need 8 grams of medicine. How much medicine would I need if I weigh 150 pounds?
2. Our family has started watching the Star Wars movies. If the average time for a movie is 2 hours and 13 minutes, how long will it take to watch all 11 movies?
3. Adam is 7. He has $500 to invest at 8%. How much will he have when he graduates high school at age 18?
4. A person has 3 billion molecules in their DNA. The most different people in the world are about 99% similar. How many DNA molecules do they have in common?
5. Pete has $1000 and in 5 years he wants that to grow to $2000. What interest rate does he need?
6. There is a room of 10 kids, 5 boys and 5 girls. What are the chances that if you picked two kids at random, you would have one boy and one girl?
ANSWERS:
1. 24 grams (71% of students got this correct)
2. 1463 minutes or 24 hours and 23 minutes (67%)
3. $1165.82 (33%)
4. 2.97 billion (43%)
5. 14.86% (14%)
6. 55.56% (5%)
TEST #5: 25-February-2019
QUESTIONS:
1. 40 kids take this test each month. If half study for 2 hours and the other half study for 6 hours, how many total hours of studying is done by all 40 students?
2. A kid needs 1300mg of calcium per day. A glass of milk has 300 mg of calcium. How many glasses of milk would you need to drink in a year to get all your calcium?
3. Why can’t I fly? If an eagle weighs about 6 pounds and each wing is about 3 feet long, how big would my wings need to be if I weigh 150 pounds (and needed the same wing-weight proportion as an eagle)?
4. I have $2000 and I can invest it at 8%. How much would I have after 9 years?
5. If you had a room of 1000 kids and had them all flip coins 6 times, how many of those kids would you expect to get all heads?
6. What interest rate would you need if you wanted to invest $1000 and have $1150 after two years? (show at least one decimal)
ANSWERS:
1. 160 hours (44% of students got this correct)
2. 1582 glasses (33%)
3. each wing would be 75 feet (61%)
4. $3998 (33%)
5. 15.6 kids (17%)
6. 7.23% (22%)
TEST #4: 4-February-2019
QUESTIONS:
1. Lars, the drummer, hits the drum 3 times per second on average. If an average song is 4.5 minutes, how many times did he hit his drum during the whole concert if they played 25 songs?
2. Kirk uses 2 guitar amps when he plays in front of 5000 people. The concert had 30,000 people, so how many amps did he need?
3. How much money did the band make? They get 20% of all ticket sales. There were 30,000 people there and 40% of the tickets cost $100, 50% of the tickets cost $150, and 10% of the tickets cost $250.
4. What are the chances that the first two songs of the concert were from the album And Justice for All? They played 5 songs from that album and they played a total of 25 songs.
5. James wants to have $100,000 in 15 years. He knows he can invest his money at 9%, so how much does he need to start with now?
6. How many old guys with black t-shirts were at the concert? There were 30,000 people there, of which 60% were guys. 70% of all people had black t-shirts, and 30% were older than 40 (assume being older than 40 makes you “old”). Assume all variables are independent.
ANSWERS:
1. 20,250 (25% got this correct)
2. 12 (55%)
3. $840,000 (15%)
4. 3.3% (10%)
5. $27,454 (25%)
6. 3780 (15%)
TEST #3: 17-December-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. Guilford County Schools has an annual budget of $661 million to serve 72,000 students. How much are taxpayers paying for you to go to school this week if there are a total of 180 school days in a year?
2. You will be taxed on your first paycheck. You pay 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. Plus you pay 15% income taxes to the US government and 5.75% to the NC government. If your weekly paycheck is $1000, how much do you have after taxes?
3. Your Awesomeness (A) is determined by how Hard-Core you Shred (HCS) and how Naturally Gnarley (NG) you are with the formula: A = 0.5 x HCS^3 + 2 x HCS^2 + 6 x HCS x NG + 7 x NG – 30. If you Hard Core Shred at a 7 and you are Naturally Gnarley at a 5, how Awesome are you?
4. You have 5 quarters, 5 dimes, 3 nickels, and 2 pennies in your pocket. If you randomly picked three coins, what is the probability you would have at least 70¢?
5. Pete invests $900 for 20 years. How much more would he make if he could invest that money at 9% instead of 7%?
6. There are 30 students taking a really hard math test. What is the probability that none of them are born in December?
ANSWERS:
1. $255 (5% of students got this correct)
2. $716 (14%)
3. 485 (27%)
4. 2.2% (14%)
5. $1,561 (23%)
6. 7.35% (9%)
EXPLANATION VIDEO–coming soon
TEST #2: 18-November-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. HAPPY THANKSGIVING. How many calories will I eat if I have: 2 helpings of turkey, 3 of stuffing, 1 of green bean casserole, 2 cranberry stuff, and 4 pieces of pecan pie? Calories for each dish are below. (Turkey 160, Green bean casserole 225, cranberry stuff 102, pecan pie 280, stuffing 195).
2. On average a soldier gets to see his or her family 50 days per year. Over the course of a 4 year military career, how many days does a soldier not see his/her family. THANK YOU VETERANS.
3. How much does Disney make in a day? Each day 10,000 people come, and the average ticket is $105. 60% of people eat at the park, spending $9 on average. 20% of people get a souvenir, spending on average $23.
4. You studied STEM in college so you get a really good job starting at $60,000 per year. If you are an absolute rock star at work and get a 5% raise each year, what will your salary be after 5 years?
5. Adam saves $500 at 7% for 20 years. Pete starts 5 years later. If he can get the same return (7%) and he wants the same amount as Adam has, how much will Pete need to start with?
6. A regatta has 12 boats racing each other. What is the probability of correctly picking the top three finishers? The order of the top 3 doesn’t matter, and assume the outcome is random.
ANSWERS:
1. 2,414 calories (64% students got this correct)
2. 1,260 days (59%)
3. $1,150,000 (14%)
4. $76,577 (18%)
5. $701 (27%)
6. 0.45% or 1/220 (9%)
TEST #1: 15-October-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. A student who focuses on STEM subjects earns about $20,000 more annually on average than someone who focuses in non-STEM areas. Over a 40 year career, how much more will the STEM person earn?
2. Adam just turned 7 years old. How many seconds old is he?
3. The volume of a cube is V = H x W x L (H=height, W=width, L=length). You have a bucket that is 14 inches high, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches long. How many smaller cups (4 inches high, 3 inches wide, 3 inches long) would it take to fill the bucket?
4. A 10-year-old needs about 1.3 grams of calcium per day. A cup of milk has about 0.3 grams of calcium. How many gallons of milk would a 10-year-old need to drink in a year to get all her calcium (there are 16 cups in a gallon)?
5. Pete invests $800 at 7% interest. At the end of 35 years, how much will he have?
6. I have 20 songs on my “Old School Metal” playlist, 9 of which are Black Sabbath. If I put it on shuffle, what is the probability of it starting with 2 Black Sabbath songs in a row?
ANSWERS:
1. $800,000 (42% of students got correct)
2. 220,752,000 seconds or 220,924,800 seconds if you count leap years (23%)
3. 47 cups (15%)
4. 99 gallons (12%)
5. $8541 (15%)
6. 18.9% (4%)
TEST #8: 23-May-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. Pete has a job for the 10 weeks of summer break. He makes $9 per hour and works 30 hours each week. The government takes away 20% in taxes. How much does he end up with?
2. An elementary school student needs 45mg of Vitamin C per day. An orange has about 51 mg. How many oranges would you need to get all of your vitamin C for a year (a year has 365 days)?
3. What is the probability of rolling a six-sided die three times and: 1) get an even number on the first roll, 2) get a 5 or higher on the second roll, 3) get a 5 or lower on the third roll?
4. Nugget (our dog) has $20 to invest today and in 7 years he wants to buy $35 worth of bones. What interest rate would he need?
5. Adam invests $2000 at 6% interest for 40 years. Pete invests $1000 at 8% interest for 40 years. At the end of 40 years, who has more and how much more?
6. How many ways can you arrange the letters in the word “ADDED”?
ANSWERS:
1. $2,160 (54% of students got this correct)
2. 322 oranges (75%)
3. 13.9% (33%)
4. 8.3% (46%)
5. Pete has $1,153 more (42%)
6. 20 (13%)
TEST #7: 18-Apr-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. How long did it take my family to get to Miami for spring break? It’s 800 miles and I average 70 mph. Each time I stop for gas that takes 10 minutes, and my car can go 250 miles between gas fill-ups (we started with a full tank of gas).
2. On license plates in North Carolina, the first 3 characters are letters, and the last 4 characters are numbers. How many unique license plates can the state have?
3. Both Adam and Pete can get an 8% investment return. Adam invests $1000 when he is 22 and gets the money when he’s 60. Pete waits to invest when he is 30. How much would Pete need to invest to have the same amount as Adam when he turns 60?
4. The equation for a band’s awesomeness is A = GS3 + HC x L2, where A=Awesomeness, GS=Guitar Solos, HC=Hard Coreness, and L=Loudness. Which band is awesomest and what is their score?
5. The probability of rolling a 9 or higher with two dice is 27.8%.
A–what is the probability of a 9 or higher if your first role was a 6?
B–what is the probability of a 9 or higher if your first role was a 2?
6. A sphere’s volume is V = 4/3 x pi x radius^3 and a sphere’s surface area is SA = 4 x pi x radius^2 (pi is 3.14159). If a sphere’s surface area is 600, what is its volume?
ANSWERS:
1. 11.93 hours or 716 minutes (23% of students got this correct)
2. 175,760,000 (15%)
3. $1851 (38%)
4. Iron Maiden–1214 (58%)
5. A 67%, B 0% (15%)
6. 1382 (12%)
TEST #6: 21-Mar-2018
QUESTIONS:
I’M GOING TO SEE METALLICA!!! The concert ticket costs $150 and parking is $20. Plus it’s 90 miles to Raleigh for the concert. My car gets 35 miles to the gallon and gas costs $2.50 per gallon. What is my all in cost to go to (and get back from) the concert? Answer to two decimals.
One–Adam takes $10 from his first day of work at age 22, and he invests it at 8% until he retires at age 65. How much does that $10 grow to?
Master of Puppets–S = 8900 – 4575 x V + 0.778 x V^2 + 0.061 x V^3 is the stress on an airplane wing based on its speed. S is stress and V is the plane’s velocity. If the plane goes 500 mph what is the stress? FYI, the wing snaps off if stress exceeds 10,000,000.
For Whom the Bell Tolls–I need $200 to go to a rockin’ concert two-and-a-half years from now. I have $170 right now. What interest rate do I need to have the money in two-and-a-half years? Answer to one decimal.
And Justice for All–I have a huge spherical bowl that is 6 inches in radius. I also have a cup that is square on the bottom. The cup’s bottom is 2 inches long and 2 inches wide; the cup is 4 inches tall. How many cups of water will it take to fill the bowl? Volume of cup: V = Long x Wide x Tall. Volume of sphere is: V = 4/3 x pi x radius^3 (pi is 3.14159).
Fade to Black–A room has 10 kids in it–2 pairs of brothers and 3 pairs of sisters. If you picked two kids at random, what is the probability they would be sisters? Answer to one decimal.
ANSWERS:
Metallica $182.86 (41% of students got question correct)
One $273.67 (52%)
Master of Puppets 5,540,900 (21%)
For Whom the Bell Tolls 6.7% (24%)
And Justice for All 56.5 cups (17%)
Fade to Black 6.7% (3%)
TEST #5: 21-Feb-2018
QUESTIONS:
1. VEGAS BABY!!! I want to lose money so I play roulette. There is a 5% chance I win $4 and a 35% chance I win $1. Otherwise I lose $1. If I played 1000 games, what would I expect to win or lose?
2. I = $20,000 + E x $2,000 + S x $12,000 is an equation that estimates your income. I is income, E is total years of education, and S is years of STEM classes taken in college. What would you expect to make with 17 years of education and 4 years of college STEM classes?
3. I can normally run at 7 mph. However if I listen to heavy metal, I can run 25% faster. How far can I run if I play Welcome to the Jungle (song is 5 minutes long)? (answer should be at least two decimals)
4. I have $10,000 and I want it to triple in 15 years. What interest rate would I need? (answer should be at least one decimal)
5. Adam and Peter both have $10,000 for college. They both invest that money for 20 years. If Adam invests it at 8% and Peter invests it at 9%, how much more will Peter have after 20 years?
6. There are six runners in a race (Amy, Bo, Cindy, Dave, Elle, and Fred). If all you care about are the first three finishers, how many different combinations of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are there?
ANSWERS:
1. Lose $50 (11% of students got this correct)
2. $102,000 (56%)
3. 0.73 miles (17%)
4. 7.6% (19%)
5. $9,435 (39%)
6. 120 (17%)
TEST #4: 25-Jan-2018
QUESTIONS
Q1: BAD DECISIONS. How much would you spend on cigarettes during your lifetime if you started smoking at 18, smoked 2 packs a day until you’re 70, and each pack costs $5.25.
Q2: If you have $100 and you earn 2% interest annually, how much will you have after 5 years?
Q3: My electric bill is calculated with the formula: B = 15 + 0.1 E, where B is the amount of the bill, and E is the electricity I used. What is my bill if I used 1200 kilowatthours (E = 1200)?
Q4: How many left-handed girls with dark hair live in the US? There are 330 million people in US, 51% of Americans are girls, 9% of Americans are left handed, and 68% of Americans have dark hair.
Q5: The large square as a side of 12 inches. The smaller square has a side of 2 inches. How many smaller squares could fit in the larger square?
Q6: I can invest money and get an 9% return annually. How much do I need to start with if after 8 years I want $6,000?
ANSWERS
Q1: $199,290
Q2: $110.41
Q3: $135
Q4: 10,299,960
Q5: 36
Q6: $3,011.20
Our next test will be on February 21, 2018, at Summerfield Elementary School at 3:15pm. Please register here.
TEST #3: 13-Dec-2017
Here are the questions and answers from the third test. As you take this, if you would like to help support what we are doing, we would welcome any donation that will go to support this program and get 4th and 5th graders even more excited with math.
QUESTIONS
Q1: The average annual salary for someone with a math degree is $63,000 while it’s $36,000 for someone without a math degree. How much more will someone with a math degree make over 40 years?
Q2: The formula F = 1.8C + 32 converts Celcius to Fahrenheit. If water boils at 100C what is it in Fahrenheit?
Q3: I paid for a PS4 ($400) and virtual reality set ($360) with my credit card which charges 20% interest. If I don’t make a payment, how much will I owe in 10 years?
Q4: VIVA LAS VEGAS!!! You have a 48% chance of winning at Blackjack. If you bet $1 each time (if you win you win $1, if you lose you lose $1), how much would you expect to win or lose after 100 games?
Q5: Over 2 years my investment grew from $200,000 to $250,000. What is the compounded annual return on that?
Q6: A cancer drug kills 30% of the cancer cells (70% survive) each month. What percentage of cancer cells would still survive after a year of treatment?
ANSWERS
Q1: $1,080,000
Q2: 212F
Q3: $4,706
Q4: Lose $4
Q5: 11.8%
Q6: 1.38%
Our next test will be on January 17, 2018, at Summerfield Elementary School at 3:15pm. Please register here.
TEST #2: 15-Nov-2017
Here are the questions and answers from the seconds test. As you take this, if you would like to help support what we are doing, we would welcome any donation that will go to support this program and get 4th and 5th graders even more excited with math.
QUESTIONS
Q1: A McDonald’s extra value meal has 1180 calories. If you run hard, you can burn 700 calories per hour. How many hours of running would it take to burn off that meal?
Q2: A graphing calculator costs $80. You already have $22 saved, and your weekly allowance is $4. How long until you have enough to buy it?
Q3: What is the probability of flipping a coin 4 times in a row and each flip coming up tails?
Q4: If you invested $100 and earned 6% interest annually, how much would you have after 10 years?
Q5: How many different ways can you arrange the letters of the word M-A-T-H?
Q6: A bacteria colony can triple in size (increase 200%) in 4 days. If it is currently is 1 gram, how big will it be in 20 days?
ANSWERS
Q1: 1.68 hours
Q2: 14.5 weeks
Q3: 6.3%
Q4: $179.08
Q5: 24
Q6: 243 grams
TEST #1: 25-Oct-2017
Here are the questions and answers from the first test. As you take this, if you would like to help support what we are doing, we would welcome any donation that will go to support this program and get 4th and 5th graders even more excited with math.
QUESTIONS
Q1: Solve for A (all answers). A^2 – 8 = 17
Q2: What is the probability of rolling 2 dice, and getting a 5 or higher on both rolls?
Q3: If you invested $500 of prize money and earned 8% interest annually, how much would you have after 7 years?
Q4: A soda has 250 calories. Your body converts 3500 calories into a pound of fat. If you drank a soda everyday for a year, how much extra fat would you have?
Q5: What is the area of the shaded portion?
Q6: The ratio of sunny days to cloudy days is 3:2. How many sunny days are there in a year?
ANSWERS
Q1: 5 AND -5
Q2: 1/9 OR 11%
Q3: $857
Q4: 26.07 pounds
Q5: 21.46
Q6: 219 days