You may not believe it, but the teeny frog on that coin is real. It’s smaller than a dime or a Cheerio. Two scientists, Christopher Austin and Eric Rittmeyer, were exploring a tropical forest when they heard a weird sound. They looked everywhere, but couldn’t find the thing making that noise. Finally they just scooped up a bag of leaves and took it home, where the teeniest frog they had ever seen hopped out. The best part is, if you want one as a pet, you can carry him around in your wallet.
Wee ones: Frogs usually have 4 “fingers” on each front foot. You have 5 fingers on each hand. Whose “hand” has more fingers?
Little kids: If 1 frog sits on a dime (10 cents) and another sits on a penny (1 cent), how many cents are the frogs sitting on all together? Bonus: If you have 1 dime and 1 penny, how many more pennies would you need to make 14 cents total?
Big kids: If your hand is 6 inches long, and you can line up 3 frogs in an inch, how many frogs could you line up on your hand? Bonus: This tiny frog can leap 30 times its own length! If you’re 5 feet 1.5 inches tall and can jump 30 times that length, how far can you jump? Express your answer in total feet using decimals. (Hint if needed: first convert 1.5 inches to its decimal form – there are 12 inches in 1 foot).
Answers:
Wee ones: You have more fingers.
Little kids: 11 cents. Bonus: 3 more cents.
Big kids: 18 frogs. Bonus: 153.75 feet! 1.5 inches is 0.125 of 1 foot, so you’re multiplying 5.125 by 30.
