Imagine floating on the ocean and having a giant killer whale swim right under you! That’s what happened to Rich German in California. He was floating around on a paddleboard, and five orcas suddenly swam up to him. Orcas are the big, beautiful black-and-white cousins of the dolphin: males can be up to 30 feet long and weigh up to 6 tons. Even though they’re nicknamed “killer whales,” luckily Rich knew that they’re gentle animals, so he wasn’t scared.
Wee ones: 5 orcas swam up to Rich. What numbers would he say to count them up?
Little kids: If you’re 4 feet tall and the orca’s fin is 6 feet tall, how many feet above you does it reach? Bonus: If your bedroom is about 10 feet long, how many rooms that size would you have to line up to match a 30-foot orca?
Big kids: If you and your friends each weigh 50 pounds, and an orca can carry 200 pounds, how many of you can ride that orca at once? Bonus: An orca weighs about the same as a school bus. If your bus weighs 10,000 pounds and the orca weighs 1/5 more than that, how heavy is the orca?
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Little kids: 2 feet more. Bonus: 3 bedrooms — that’s how huge they are!
Big kids: 4 of you. Bonus: 12,000 pounds, since it weighs 2,000 pounds more.
