Elementary POW, February 24-28, 1997
Elem POW Problems || Dec '96 - Feb '97 Problems || Elem POW Main Page
In a contest to guess the number of balloons in a bunch, Alice guessed 31, Betty guessed 29, Carol guessed 23, Denise guessed 25, and Edith guessed 27. Two were wrong by 2, and two were wrong by 4. The other was correct.How many balloons were there, and who won?
A correct solution with no explanation will not be given credit. Try to explain how you arrived at your solution so that someone who was not able to solve the problem will be able to follow your reasoning.
This week's mentor was Suzanne Grossman, Grade 10, Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA
Susan Nguyen and Opal Raj; Christopher Hilliard 5 grade The Kings Academy West Palm Beach, FL Stephanie Gagnon Stony Lane School North Kingstown, RI Mrs. Hinman's Math Class 5 grade Ursuline Academy Wilmington, DE Huw Wilkins 5 grade Tasmania, Australia Rachel Forster 4 grade Tasmania, Australia Annu Eranki 4 grade Country Parkway Elementary Williamsville, NY Jo Forman 4 grade Natalie Miller, Meghan McKenna, Julia Janes, Blair Thornley 6 grade West Palm Beach, FL Bette Ann, Brittany, Alex and Adam Busey School Woodward Academy William Ewing, 3 grade Chris Balin, Robert Goulder, Ted Powers, 4 grade Julia Coffey-Esquivel and Chrislyn Doran, 5 grade Center School Stow, MA Scott and Vasha Rosenblum 2 grade South Shades Crest Elementary School Hoover, AL 5 grade Challenge Briar Glen School Wheaton, IL Michael, Sylvia, Matt Coyle and Robert Kapitzky, Amy Nuttleman, Lindsi Mailler, and Regina Shotwell 6 grade JFK Middle School Northampton, MA Greg Jackson Elementary St. Paul, MN Jeff, Ryan, John, Eric S., Meg and Alex 5 grade Bates School Wellesley, MA Laura Kasl 5 grade Homeschool Phoenix, AZ Nick Ehrenberg 6 grade Buffalo, MN Victor Osimitz Rachel Rhoades, Shannon McNulty, Jordaynne Hartmann, Kelly Gilpatrick 5 grade Garrison School Mandy McKinney Mary Jensen John Consorti Christiana Mangiapani 5 grade Florida Tracy and Rich Brondyke Erica Wade and Brian Whitehouse 6 grade Blue Star Elementary Holland, MI Larry Forshaw Homeschool Urbana, OH Chris Sigmund, James Hampson, Matt McHugh, Tyler Prestwick and Jon Layton 5 grade Enterprise Elementary Federal Way, WA Paul Nass's Math Class 4 grade Georgetown Day School Hilary P., Alicia F., M. Martinez, Payne, Koebel, Falzone, Miller, Alison S., Mike S, Beth S., Prusia, Jeni C., 5 grade Three Oaks Elementary School Three Oaks, MI Gregory Shinault, Katie Watson, Sonia Pervet, Meghan Pearsey 6 grade Centennial Elementary School Bakersfield, CA Elias S., Mike S., Andrew R., Laura C., Lauren A., Rachel S., Jason K., Annie L., Catherine H., Amanda S., Zach S., A.W., J.A., Ed W., Stacy C., Kim C., Luke W., Jamie H., Greg K., James B. 5 grade Jefferson Road Elementary School Pittsford, NY Kinga Janik and Joyce Sato-Reinhold, 6 grade Celia Franklin, Anna Grothberg, Sara Walcott, 5 grade Sarah Gordon, Nicole Mehta and Emilee Pickrell; Emily Lipki; Claudia Villamil and Corey Perry, Robby Liess, 6 grade Highcrest Middle School Wilmette, IL Meg Bele, Seth Briggs 4 grade Waterford Memorial School Waterford, ME Ashley Ritchie 2 grade Calvert Elementary School Rising Sun, MD Chris Novembrino 5 grade Sang Yun Hwang 6 grade Hustville Adventist School Mr. Prendergast's Class 4 grade Stony Lane School Ted O'Brien and Stephen Wielgus; Lizzie Lamb and John Coyle; Simon Stager Jessica Oates, D.P., and Jane Oats, 5 grade Drexel Hill School of the Holy Child Drexel Hill, PA Morgana P., Alex T.V., Emily M., Emily S., Ariel N., Ariel F., Brian P., Robbie, Justin W., Andrew M., Nathan S., Ben C., Natel, Elena S., and Carlyn B. 3 grade Forsyth School Courtney and Savanna Ledesma 6 grade Buffalo Intermediate School Bryce, Nick, Jessie, Ashleigh, Clifton, and John, 6 grade Eric, Courtney and Robbie, 4 grade Shaffer Elementary Mike Healy 4 grade Titus Elementary School Stephanie Meyer, Claine Erlacher, Sarah Mueller, and Charlie Mund 5 grade Emerson Elementary School Connie, Jackie, Alex and Phil; Russell, Tom and Jason; Mike M., 3 grade Keith, Joey, and Jeff; Sarah and Jessica; Alison, Caitlyn, and Stephanie; Mark M.; Pat T., 4 grade Meghan R., Kirsten A., Dan K., 5 grade Katelyn E., Bryan C., Peter M., Chris C., Tom and Mike C., Laura B., Leah H. and Leah P., Shawn J., Cathy T., 6 grade Bagnall School Groveland, MA Barbara Kelley's Class 5 grade Churchill Road School Groveland, MA Mrs. Gregory's 3rd Grade Class Monfort Elementary School Andrew Richardson 4 grade Ashville Christian Academy Michael Twardzik, Adam Leposa 4 grade Western Salisbury School Valerie 6 grade Papago School Phoenix, Arizona Katie, Nancy, Matthew and Anthony 6 grade Woodward Academy Busey Campus Jonathan, Patrick, and Jesse 3 grade Hess Educational Complex Mays Landing, NJ Elizabeth Giliberti, Marisa, Leslie Hartman, David Lesser 3 grade Market School Washington, D.C. Amanda Loverde, Stephanie Schindler, and Sarah Marie Schindler 5 grade Immaculate Heart of Mary School Baltimore, MD Jason Clarke 4 grade Beebe School Melrose, Massachusetts Rufaro Makanda 3 grade Maret School Stephanie F., Suesan Z. 5 grade Stony Lane School North Kingstown, RI Beth Sumner, P.J. Raduta, Nick Graziano, Emily Kind-Rubin, Kyle Dolinsky, Echo Hopkins, Cody Miller, Elyse Sims, Adam Stolzenberg, Forrest Durey, Matt Beck, Courtney Doherty, Jen Biernacki, Dan Ludin, Steven Withers, Kim Doheny 4 grade Kutz Elementary School Doylestown, PA
There were 27 balloons and Edith won.If two people were wrong by 4, they must have the same answer or answers that differ by 8. No two persons had the same answers. Alice guessed 31 and Carol guessed 23 so they must be wrong. Betty and Denise had answers that were 4 apart so they must have both been wrong by 2. Edith was correct with 27.
Natalie Miller, West Palm Beach, Florida
There were 27 balloons,and Edith won.
Alice 31 balloons - missed by 4
Betty 29 balloons - missed by 2
Carol 23 balloons - missed by 4
Denise 25 balloons - missed by 2
*Edith 27 balloons - missed by 0*
You would subtract by 27 to see how many numbers they missed by.
31 - 27 =4
29 - 27 =2
27 - 23 =4
27 - 25 = 2
I had a funny feeling that 27 would fit. (My Dad calls it intuition.) If it was wrong,I would pick the next person on the list and try again.
Annu Eranki
Grade: 4
Country Parkway Elementary
Williamsville, N.Y.
Teacher: Mrs. Moser
The first thing you need to do is organize the guesses from greatest to least to see if there is a pattern:
31: Alice
Now, two were off by 2 and 2 were off by 4. If Alice is correct, Betty is off by 2, Edith is off by 4 Denise is off by 6, and Carol is off by 8.
29: Betty
27: Edith
25: Denise
23: Carol
If Betty is correct, Alice is off by 2, Edith is off by 2, Denise is off by 4, and Carol is off by 6.
If Denise is correct, Carol and Edith are off by 2, Betty is off by 4, and Alice is off by 6.
If Carol is correct, Alice is off by 8, Betty is off by 6, Edith is off by 4 and Denise is off by 2.
My first guess was Edith, since she is in the center. If Edith is correct, then Denise and Betty are off by 2 and Alice and Carol are off by 4.
Mary Jensen
CASTFOREM@aol.com
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