A calculator is an almost magical toy: you press buttons that have numbers on them, and the calculator adds them, multiplies them, or whatever else you want to do, then shows the answer! You can even punch in numbers and turn it upside down to see letters, like 07734 becomes hELLO. Let’s see how fast hI and hELLO add up!
Wee ones: If you’ve pressed buttons 1, 2, and 3, what button should you press next to stay in order?
Little kids: If you press 1, then 2, then 1 again, then 3, then 1, then 4…what’s the next button you press? Bonus: If you type 707 (which spells “LOL” upside-down), then add 1, what number do you have now?
Big kids: If 2 to the 3rd power means 2 x 2 x 2, what does 3 to the 3rd power equal? Bonus: If Abby had 100 of those 16-button calculators, how many buttons would they have all together?
Answers:
Wee ones: The 4.
Little kids: The 1. Bonus: 708.
Big kids: It equals 3 x 3 x 3, or 27. Bonus: 1,600 buttons.
