Hummingbirds are amazing. They can hang in the air over a flower long enough to suck nectar for dinner. To do this, they flap their wings 80 times per second. That is such hard work that their hearts beat more than 1,000 times a minute! Our hearts beat just 60 to 100 times a minute while resting. Even when you exercise, your top heart rate should be 220 minus your age. Do the math below to find out what that is!
Wee ones: Flap your arms 5 times fast like a hummingbird, and count the flaps as you do!
Little kids: If a hummingbird sucks nectar from the 3rd flower in a garden, then the 6th flower, what number flowers does it skip? Bonus: If a hummingbird decides to eat from 6 flowers, what numbers would it say to count down from 6?
Big kids: If your highest heart rate should be 220 minus your age, what does that come to for you? How about for your teacher? Who has the highest top rate? Bonus: What if your 12-ounce pet bird had to eat 10 times its weight because it exercised so hard? How many pounds of bird seed would it have to eat? Express the answer as a mixed number! (Reminder: 1 pound has 16 ounces.)
Answers:
Wee ones: Count your flaps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Little kids: Flowers 4 and 5. Bonus: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Big kids: Different for everyone…subtract each person’s age from 220. Kids should have a higher top heart rate than grown-ups, because you’re subtracting a smaller number — fewer steps down from 220. Bonus: It would have to eat 7 1/2 pounds of bird seed! Your 12-ounce bird weighs 3/4 pound, so it needs 30 / 4 pounds of bird seed.
