Dairy Farmer Math

In an effort to make math more interesting for kids and to make my kids understand that math really is important.  Farmer Math questions go along with the Flat Aggie reports or can be used separately.  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.

These questions follow the report  Flat Aggie's Trip to Weigel Dairy.  Additional educational materials can be found in the post All About Dairy Cows.  There is also an additional Dairy Farmer Math available.

1.   A human baby usually eats 2 ounces of milk for its first meal.  A baby dairy calf gets one gallon of milk (colostrum).  How many more ounces does a calf eat than a baby? (Hint: 1 gallon=128 ounces)

2.  A cow is pregnant for 283 days.  Approximately, how many months is a cow pregnant. (Round to the nearest whole number.

3.  A dairy cow has an infection in her udder and the veterinarian recommends treating her with an antibiotic.  The cow weighs 1200 pounds and the correct dosage in 1.1 ml per 100 pounds of body weight.  How many milliliters does the farmer need to give the cow?

4.  If he treats her with the antibiotic on February 12, and he has to dump her milk for 14 days, when is the first day that the milk can be safely consumed by people again?

5.  How much feed will a dairy cow eat each day, if she can eat 3% of her body weight assuming she weighs 1200 pounds?

ANSWERS:  1.) 126 ounces more  2.)  9 months  3.)  13.2 ml  4.) February 27  5.)  36 pounds

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