When will the winning Minecraft pickaxe finish? We begin this problem by thinking like a spy and figuring out what information we have and what information we need. The video shows us that there are six kinds of pickaxes competing in a race. Once the race starts the gold pickaxe takes an…
This problem’s success depends on students having a sufficient understanding of how a plane measures a vehicle’s speed from the air. The picture below may be useful to help “develop the question” as Dan Meyer has recently blogged about.
NFL cornerback Patrick Peterson received a $15,361,000 signing bonus as part of a five-year, $70 million contract extension. However, he didn’t immediately cash the check. When asked why, he said, “I just haven’t gotten around to it.” How much interest money did Peterson lose by not immediately cashing his check? These questions may be useful…
A picture of a cheeseburger (to establish that it has one cheese slice and one burger patty): A picture of a Double-Double (to establish that it has two cheese slices and two burger patties): A picture of a 20×20 burger (to establish that it has 20 cheese slices and 20 burger patties): Below are…
You are buying arts and crafts supplies from Michaels this Sunday and have the two coupons pictured below to choose from. Which coupon will save you the most money? How much would the higher-priced item in Scenario 2 have to be to make both coupons save the same amount of money? These…
Many theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios offer annual passes where customers can pay for the whole year in advance or pay a little in the beginning and make smaller payments each month for the rest of the year. Which payment option saves you the most money? These questions may be…
Chuck E. Cheese’s (and many other arcades) have a game called Skee Ball where you roll a ball up a ramp and into a hole to earn points. You earn more points when the ball goes into smaller holes. The more points you earn, the more tickets you get to buy prizes with. As…
When Motel 6 opened for business in 1962 they only charged $6 per night, hence their name. They could not afford to keep that price forever, and since then their prices have continued to grow. What percent has their price increased since it first opened? (percent increase) What percent has the price increased…
A man in Finland named Anssi Vanjoki’s received a speeding ticket for driving 46.5 mph in a 30 mph zone and he had to pay… €116,000 ($103,000)! The reason the penalty was so harsh is that traffic fines in Finland are based not just on the severity of the offense, but on the offender’s…
One type of toilet comes in two models: dual flush or single flush. The dual flush toilet has two buttons: one flushes “solids” with more water and “liquids” with less water. The single flush toilet always flushes with the same amount of water. When would both toilets use the same amount of water?…
Your family wants to buy a new Toyota Camry LE and is considering buying the hybrid version if the money saved on gas will be enough to pay the extra cost for the hybrid. How many years will it take from saved gas money to pay for the extra cost for a hybrid?…
What if the convenience store did not run out of hot dogs for rival competitive eaters Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas to eat? How many hot dogs were on the grill before Kobayashi ordered the first hot dog? How many hot dogs would each person eat in Round 20? How many…
