12
Do the Math!
Party Animals It’s Digit’s birthday, so he’s hosting a fabulous party. Mendel’s household was abuzz with excitement. It was Digit’s birthday, and he was throwing a party. Actually, he was just attending a party. Because dogs are poor planners and shoppers, Mendel did all the preparation. And since he knew that Digit was truly the doggiest dog in the whole world, he spared no expense. There would be delicious foods, like liver treats and lamb cookies. There would be a puppy play pool and fresh sand to dig in. He’d set up games like Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Kitten and Hide the Bones. Digit was beside himself with joy—his tail twirled like a salad spinner.
Of course, Digit helped with the guest list for he had a pack of friends to choose from. There were other dogs for sure, but he also knew cats, a few ducks, some parrots, a kangaroo, and even a spider—Vinny. Digit really hoped Vinny could make it. He adored that little web master. Digit ended up with 12 animals (including himself) at the party. Vinny was one of them, which delighted the birthday dog. There were 8-legged, 4-legged, and 2-legged party animals at this shindig. That’s quite a few animal feet at one party!
Daeshim came, too, early enough to hide all the bones. But after that job was done, he got bored. The food didn’t appeal to him much, so Daeshim began to count animal feet. When he’d finished, he called over to Mendel. “Say, Mendel, I counted 42 animal feet at this party—not counting humans. Imagine that! Bet you can’t figure out how many of each kind without looking.” Come on! Mendel is a math detective, so of course he could. Can you?
How many 8-legged, 4-legged, and 2-legged animals were at Digit’s party? How could Mendel figure this out?
Teacher: Ask students to complete this work independently or with a partner. Purpose: To use number sense, whole-number operations, and algebraic/logical reasoning to solve a problem
26 Session 12
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