Download The Situation The Challenge(s) How effective is each password requirement in making a password take longer to hack using brute force? What is the longest amount of time it would take a computer to hack your password? What recommendations would you make regarding password requirements so that they are as secure as possible?…
The A10 motorway is a highway in the Netherlands. This highway is called a “ring road” because it forms a relatively circular pattern around the city of Amsterdam. How many kilometers do you have to drive on the A10 motorway to drive from the exit for s116 to the exit for s113? …
Download The Situation The Challenge(s) How do skytypers write messages? Question(s) To Ask These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: Would this message look different to you if you were viewing it from a plane above the message instead of on the ground? Consider This As the video explains,…
How big is the Bermuda Triangle? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What is a guess that is too low? What is a guess that is too high? What is your best guess? What assumptions are we making? How can we determine whether the GPS…
Pipes can be stacked in a staggered pattern or non-staggered pattern. With that as a reference, watch this video: How much shorter are 20 layers of staggered pipe stacks? How much shorter are n layers of staggered pipe stacks? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving…
How can we correct the Scarecrow’s statement so it is mathematically precise? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: How can we determine if the Scarecrow is correct when he mentions “any two sides”? This problem is a great way to introduce CCSS 8.G.6 or…
The field below is covered with many green circular shapes. Each circle is caused by a sprinkler that was only able to water grass within its spraying radius. Some areas of the field were not close enough to a sprinkler, received little to no water, and now have dead grass.
How much money is that? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What is a guess that is too low? What is a guess that is too high? What is your best guess? What options do you have for counting this money and what are the…
You want to make a video game similar to the one below and are beginning by animating Ms. Pac-Man. How can you describe Ms. Pac-Man’s movements? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What movement did Ms. Pac-Man make? What was the very first thing Ms.…
You are trying to buy a toy that is sold out in all of your local toy stores. You decide to use the Toys R Us website’s store locator to find the nearest store location. Which stores are 5 miles or less from you? Which stores are 10 miles or less from you?…
Apple says its iPhone 5’s display “has a pixel density so high your eye can’t distinguish individual pixels.” What is the iPhone 5’s pixel density? What are other phones’ pixel density? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What is pixel density and why does it…
Sunspots create solar flares that can damage satellites in orbit, disable GPS systems, and cause power failures in cities. The larger the sunspot, the higher the chance of creating a powerful solar flare. How big is Sunspot AR 1476? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path:…
In 2010, an enormous sinkhole (pictured below) suddenly appeared in the middle of a Guatemalan neighborhood and swallowed a three-story building above it. How much material will they need to fill the sinkhole? How much will it cost to fill the sinkhole in? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem…
A woman is playing poker on a video game machine that allows you to play 100 hands at a time. At the beginning of this hand she is dealt the five cards pictured below: She decides to hold only these four cards: When she presses the “DRAW” button, each of the hundred hands will…
NASA stopped painting its space shuttles’ external fuel tank because the paint did not improve performance and they wanted to reduce the shuttle’s overall weight. How much did the external fuel tank’s paint weigh? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What is a guess that…
How much does it cost to cover this classroom in aluminum foil? These questions may be useful in helping students down the problem solving path: What is a guess that is too low? What is a guess that is too high? What is your best guess? What shape are the objects in…
How big of a building would all the cigarette butts littered every day in the United States fill? A classroom? An auditorium? A stadium? How long would it take to fill a ____________? How long would a line of cigarette butts littered each day measure? These questions may be useful in helping…
“At 79 inches tall (6’10”), our Jumbo Giant Gumball Machine is one HUGE gumball machine that will tower over children and adults alike! This gumball machine has a massive globe that can hold ##,### gumballs, but comes with a smaller inner globe to allow you to stock it with ##,### gumballs to save money…
