If you’re really good at some trick and do it a zillion times in a row, chances are you could make or break a new world record. Like Army Lieutenant Jalyessa Walker, who did an incredible 49 backflips in a row down the length of a football field. She flipped far more than she needed to — the previous record was just 35 backflips. In fact, she said she stopped only because she ran out of room at the end of the field!
Wee ones: If you yell during your 2nd backflip and 5th backflip, how many flips do you do quietly in between?
Little kids: Just how few backflips could Jalyessa have done to break the record of 35? Bonus: A high school cheerleader almost broke Jalyessa’s record in 2013, with 46 backflips. How many more did Jalyessa do?
Big kids: If Henry had done 3 times as many flips as his 20-flip record, would he have beaten Jalyessa’s record of 49? Bonus: Jalyessa practiced backflips for a month before her stunt. If she did 40 per day, how many did she do in total? (Assume a 30-day month.)
The sky’s the limit: If 2 pogo stick riders try to break Henry’s 18-flip record, and 1 guy does twice as many as the other and together they do 33, does either of them break Henry’s record?
Answers:
Wee ones: 2 flips – your 3rd and 4th.
Little kids: 1 more, which is 36 backflips. Bonus: 3 more backflips.
Big kids: Yes: he would have done 60. Bonus: 1,200 backflips!
The sky’s the limit: Yes. If the second guy adds on twice as many flips as the first, the total is 3 times the smaller guy’s flip count. The total is 33, so the lower flipper does 11 and the bigger flipper does 22, which beats the record of 20.
