It’s easier to do one thing at a time than two things. Sometimes grown-ups try to do lots of things at once, and end up dropping their phone into a pot of soup. Well, some grown-ups CAN do two things at once. A guy named Dylan Sorensen just set the world record for fastest running while also dribbling a basketball. He ran 1 mile in just 4 minutes and 37 seconds while bouncing the ball the whole time. Do you think you could bounce around the track faster?
Wee ones: What shape is a basketball?
Little kids: If Dylan dribbled the basketball switching between his hands in this pattern: right, right, right, left, then right again to start again… which hand did he use for the 6th dribble? Bonus: What hand did he use for the 16th dribble? Can you figure it out without counting out?
Big kids: The world record for running 1 mile without a basketball is 3 minutes 43 seconds. How much less time is that than this record of 4 minutes 37 seconds? Bonus: If Dylan ran all 4 laps in the exact same amount of time, how long did each lap take? (Round to the nearest whole second.)
Answers:
Wee ones: A circle, or in 3D, a “sphere”.
Little kids: His right hand, because the pattern restarts with the 5th dribble. Bonus: Left, because every 4th dribble – which means every multiple of 4 – is left.
Big kids: 54 seconds less. You can subtract 37 seconds to reach 4 minutes, then another 17 to reach 3 minutes 43 seconds – or you can “count up” from 3 minutes 43 seconds. Bonus: 1 minute 9 seconds. 4 minutes divides neatly by 4, leaving 37 seconds. 4 goes into 37 9 times, with a remainder of 1.
