As winter weather sets in, it’s a great time to warm up a cup of hot cocoa. The world’s largest “cup” of hot cocoa mixed 87 pounds of powdered milk,1,108 pounds of cocoa powder, and a whopping 880 gallons of water! It took 3 hours and 16 minutes just to heat up the cocoa to 104 degrees F. The cocoa chefs had to serve it in a swimming pool, which of course they shaped like a mug. So if you’re chilly, you can drink some hot cocoa, or just jump right in and swim.
Wee ones: If you toss 7 mini marshmallows into your hot cocoa, what numbers do you say to count them?
Little kids: If you toss 5 mini-marshmallows into your cocoa and then eat 4 more on the side, how many do you get to enjoy? Bonus: If you make hot cocoa on Sunday and then every 3rd day after that, what number is the first cup you drink on a Tuesday?
Big kids: If the chefs started heating the cocoa at 2:39 pm and took 3 hours 16 minutes, did they finish in time for dinner at 6? Bonus: If you serve hot cocoa to 3 friends and you have 6 marshmallows, how many ways can you divide the marshmallows among them so each friend gets at least 1? (Don’t worry about the order of people, just the ways to split up the marshmallows.)
The sky’s the limit: How many people could have sipped hot cocoa from that 880-gallon pool, if each person got 1 cup? (Reminder: There are 16 cups in a gallon…and as a hint, multiplying by 16 is the same as 2 x 2 x 2 x 2, or doubling a number 4 times in a row.)
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Little kids: 9 marshmallows. Bonus: The 4th cup, since you’ll drink on Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, and then keep going to Sunday-Monday-Tuesday.
Big kids: Yes! They will finish at 5:55 pm. Bonus: There are just 3 ways: 1-1-4, 1-2-3, and 2-2-2. that’s because once you give 1 marshmallow to each, the 3 remaining ones can be split up only 3 ways (0-0-3, 0-1-2, and 1-1-1).
The sky’s the limit: 14,080 people!
