Most cats aren’t crazy about car rides, but this kitten hitched a ride by hiding under the hood of a car! A person drove 28 miles to his job at the Mars candy factory in New Jersey. When he parked, people heard meows and were amazed to find the cat alive and well. The car owner put the kitten in the passenger seat and drove back to Pennsylvania, where a family adopted the kitty and named her Mars!
Wee ones: If Mars the kitten drove from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, then back to Pennsylvania, then again to her new home, how many car rides is that?
Little kids: Which is *shorter*, an 8-mile car ride or a 4-mile car ride? Bonus: If the candy worker left his house at 8:00 am and drove for exactly 1/2 hour, at what time did he and Mars get to the factory?
Big kids: The kitten drove 28 miles to NJ, then 28 miles back, then another 21 miles to her new home. How far did the kitten drive? Bonus: Who drives farther, a puppy who rides for 3 hours at 30 miles each hour, or a kitten who rides for 4 hours at 25 miles per hour?
The sky’s the limit: If Mars drove from the candy factory to a house 30 miles away, and at the exact same time a dog left his doghouse and drove to the factory at twice the speed of the kitten, how far from the house would they meet?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 car rides.
Little kids: The 4-mile ride. Bonus: At 8:30 am.
Big kids: 77 miles. Bonus: The cat, since it drives 100 miles vs. 90 for the dog.
The sky’s the limit: 20 miles from the doghouse (10 miles from the factory). If the dog is driving twice as fast, any piece it drives will be twice as long as whatever the cat drove in that time. So when they meet, the dog will have driven 2 pieces like the cat’s piece, so the whole distance has been carved into 3 equal pieces. Out of 30 miles, that makes each piece 10 miles long. The cat drove just 1 stretch 10 miles long, and the dog drove 2 times that, or 20 miles.
