Watermelon 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.

These questions follow the report Dean's Farm Watermelons.  Additional educational materials can be found in the post All About Watermelons.

1.  Dexter planted 21 seedlings, Jill planted 10 seedlings and Jack planted 29 seedlings.  Who planted the most seedlings?  Who planted the least?

2.  How many seedling watermelon plants did the three kids plant?

3.  The kids planted 15 plants per row.  How many rows did they plant?

4.  If each plant produces 4 watermelons, how many watermelons will the seedlings planted produce?

5.  We know that bees must visit each watermelon bloom seven times to get it to produce a watermelon.  How many times must the bees visit all the blossoms to get the watermelons in question 4?

BONUS QUESTION:  If the germination rate in the greenhouse is 92% and the survival rate after transplanting is 98% and the farmer needs 2000 plants to produce watermelons, how many seeds does he need to plant to get the 2000 plants?

LOOKING FOR MORE WATERMELON MATH?  Check out the Watermelon Board Page for printable worksheets!

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.

ANSWERS: 1a.) Jack  1b.) Jill  2.)60 seedlings  3.) 4 rows  4.)  240 watermelons  5.)  1680 visits  BONUS) 2219 seeds

-A Kansas Farm Mom