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Pumpkin Pie Problem

Peter wanted to make two pies for a party. His mother had a recipe for him to use. However, she always made 80 pies at a time. Did Peter have enough ingredients to make two pumpkin pies?

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Cherry Buns

Sam's grandmother has an old recipe for cherry buns. She has enough mixture to put 45 grams in each of 12 paper cake cases. What was the weight of one egg?

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Orange Drink

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The Tree and the Greenhouse

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Why do this problem?

This problem will encourage children to draw diagrams and mark measurements on them in the process of solving the problem.

Key questions

Would it be a good idea to draw a diagram of the tree and its shadow, and the stick and its shadow?
Would using a calculator help you?

Possible extension

Learners could try Hello Again which is a Stage 3 problem.

Possible support

Suggest starting by drawing a diagram of the tree and its shadow, and the stick and its shadow. Alternatively, learners could try Once upon a time which is a similar, but easier, problem.

The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice. More information on many of our other activities can be found here.
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.