Have you heard that rhyme, “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon”? It’s a weird idea, since cows aren’t the best jumpers…all kinds of animals jump a lot better. Red kangaroos leap 30 to 40 feet, while a hare can leap 10 feet. Tree frogs can jump 20 times their length, but the annoying flea can jump 13 inches, over 100 times its body length! None of these animals can jump 240,000 miles to the moon, but they all have a better shot than the cow.
Wee ones: Who jumps farther, the hare that leaps 10 feet or the kangaroo that leaps 30 feet?
Little kids: If a kangaroo can jump 30 feet, how many 10-foot jumps does the little hare have to do to match? Bonus: If the kangaroo makes 2 leaps, how many jumps does the hare have to make to keep up?
Big kids: If you jumped 10 times YOUR height, how far would that be in inches? (Try rounding it off to feet, too, or measuring yourself!) Bonus: If a 1/8th inch flea jumps 13 inches, how many times its body length can it jump? (Hint if needed: How many times its length does it jump for each inch?)
Answers:
Wee ones: The kangaroo jumps farther.
Little kids: 3 jumps. Bonus: 6 jumps.
Big kids: Different for everyone…take your own height in feet or inches, and multiply by 10. Bonus: 104 times its body length.
