The best party balloons are the ones that float. So a crazy guy named Daniel Boria wondered if HE could fly using party balloons. He tied 110 balloons to a folding chair and flew right into the sky — really! But the wind blew him the wrong way, and he landed in a field. What goes up must come down!
Wee ones: If Daniel blew up red, blue, yellow, green, and white balloons, how many colors is that?
Little kids: If Daniel took off at 2:00 pm and crash-landed 2 hours later, when did he land? Bonus: If Daniel really needed just 100 balloons, not 110, how many extra balloons did he blow up?
Big kids: In the 1980s, a guy nicknamed Lawn Chair Larry tried this trick with 45 GIANT balloons. How many more balloons did Daniel use? Bonus: If Daniel spent $1 for every pack of 10 balloons to make 110, plus $20 on the chair, how much did his flying machine cost?
The sky’s the limit — for real: If 1/2 of the 110 balloons had popped after 10 minutes, and then 1/5 of the ones *left* had popped 1 minute later, and then 1/2 of the ones left after that had popped, how many balloons would have been left?
Answers:
Wee ones: 5 colors.
Little kids: At 4:00 pm. Bonus: 10 extra balloons.
Big kids: 65 more balloons. Bonus: $31, since the 110 balloons cost $11.
The sky’s the limit: 22 balloons left. If 1/2 the balloons popped, he’d lose 55, leaving him with 55. If 1/5 of those popped he’d lose another 11, leaving him 44. Then if 1/2 of those popped, he’d lose 22 of them and have 22 left.
