Pumpkin Farmer Math

In an effort to make math more interesting for kids and to make my kids understand that math really is important, I have started a series of Farmer Math questions to go along with the Flat Aggie reports.  These are patterned after the blog Bedtime Math.  Some of the questions are easy enough for pre-schoolers and sometimes I come up with some to even challenge high school seniors.

Flat Aggie learned all about cucurbits (pumpkins, squash and gourds) at The Great Pumpkin Patch in Illinois.  Be sure to read his report and try your hand at some Pumpkin Farmer Math.  There is also an additional resource All About Pumpkins.

Pumpkin Farmer Math

1.  Flat Aggie picked 2 blue pumpkins, 3 orange pumpkins and 1 pink pumpkin.  How many pumpkins did he pick in all?

2.  The Great Pumpkin Patch has 63 acres of cucurbits.  If 41 acres are planted to orange pumpkins, how many acres are planted to other cucurbits?

3. The Village of Arthur has approximately 2,300 residents, and is surrounded by approximately 4,500 Amish residents. The Amish and “English” (non-Amish) communities are woven together in everything they do—they shop together, they work together, they even go to school together. How many residents in all make up the Village of Arthur and the Amish surrounding it to the nearest thousand?

4.  If there are 800 cucurbits in the giant tower at The Great Pumpkin Patch, how many cucurbits would it take to build a tower ¼ the size?

5.  1,240,000,000 pounds of pumpkin were produced in the United State in 2012.  90% of the pumpkins were produced in the Illinois.  How many pounds of pumpkins were produced in all other states in 2012?

ANSWERS:

1.)     6 pumpkins  2.) 22 acres  3.) 7000 residents  4.)  200 cucurbits  5.)124,000,000 pounds of pumpkin



If you are a teacher or homeschooler that would like more information to go with the Flat Aggie reports, send me a message on my contact form.  Along with the report and the Farmer Math questions, we send each teacher an additional page of activities, crossword puzzles and sometimes a few hands on activities.

-A Kansas Farm Mom