One really fun summer sport is surfing, where you stand on a long surfboard and try to ride it on waves. Now imagine sharing one surfboard with dozens of other people! 66 people in California squeezed onto a 42-foot-long surfboard and rode it for a whole 15 seconds, beating the world record for the most surfers on the biggest surfboard. We hope once everyone fell off that somebody remembered to grab the surfboard.
Wee ones: If you surf the 1st wave, then skip the 2nd, then ride the 3rd, then skip the 4th, what do you do on the 5th wave?
Little kids: The surfboard was 11 feet wide, maybe almost as wide as your room! Lie down head to toe with a grown-up, and guess whether the 2 of you could stretch across that board. If you lay across it, by how many feet would you fall short of stretching across? Bonus: Once the 1st surfer fell off, how many of the 66 surfers were still hanging on?
Big kids: If the surfers weighed 10,100 pounds and the board weighed 1,300 pounds, how much did that weigh all together? (Hint if needed: Start with the board weighing just 1,000 pounds.) Bonus: If your regular surfboard is only 1/6 as long as this monster 42-foot one, how long is your board?
Answers:
Wee ones: You ride the 5th wave.
Little kids: See if your height in feet + a grown-up’s height add to 11. Bonus: 65 surfers.
Big kids: 11,400 pounds. Bonus: 7 feet long.
