Do you love corn on the cob? Before you can cook it, you have to “shuck” it. That means yanking off the corn’s husk (the big green leaves) and the brown silk strings. It’s kind of like peeling a banana. A 4-person food truck crew set a record shucking 38 ears of corn in just 1 minute! We don’t know what record they’ll break next, but we are all ears.
Wee ones: Can you count all the ears of corn in the picture? Point and count, left to right!
Little kids: If there are 3 people at a table and there are 2 more ears of corn than people ears at the table, how many ears of corn must be at the table? Bonus: If you’re shucking 7 ears of corn and have finished 3 ears, are you at least halfway done?
Big kids: If 3 members of the 4-person team each shucked 9 ears of corn, how many ears did the 4th member shuck to reach their record-breaking 38? Bonus: It’s barbecue time! If each person gets to eat 2 ears out of the 38, how many more people can the 4-person team invite to chow down on corn?
The sky’s the limit: While the shuckers shuck, the grillers grill and the eaters eat. If the shucking team can keep up shucking 74 ears every 2 minutes, the grilling team grills 100 ears every 4 minutes, and the eating team eats 99 ears every 3 minutes, who’s waiting around for whom?
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ears of corn!
Little kids: 8 ears of corn, because 3 people with 2 ears each makes 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 ears. Bonus: No, after you have shucked 4 of 7 ears you will be at least (more than) halfway done.
Big kids: 11 ears of corn. 3 x 9 = 27 ears, and 38 – 27 = 11 ears. Bonus: 15 more people. The team will eat 8 (4 x 2) out of the 38, leaving 30 more ears.
The sky’s the limit: Everyone is waiting for the grillers. The shuckers shuck 37 ears a minute, but the grillers grill only 25 of them each minute, while the eaters could eat more than that – 33 ears. (But the eaters shouldn’t start eating the raw corn – yuck! Better to wait.)
