Lots of animals are known for their noses like elephants, proboscis monkeys and dogs like greyhounds (or in costumes). But that bug in the lower left corner – called a hawk moth – might be the winner. Their noses can stretch more than 1 foot long, much longer than their bodies. That nose works just like a straw, so hawk moths can drink nectar from flowers. We bet they wouldn’t say no to a sip of your soda, either.
Wee Ones: How long is your nose? Is it longer than your finger? Your hand? Your whole body?
Little Kids: If a hawk moth has a body 3 inches long, plus a nose that’s 6 inches long, how long is it from the tip of its nose to its other end?
Bonus: If a moth visits 4 flowers in the morning and twice as many flowers at night as in the morning, how many flowers does it visit overall?
Big Kids: The longest nose on a person is 3 1/2 inches long. If a hawk moth’s nose is 3 times as long as that person’s nose, how long is the hawk moth’s nose?
Bonus: Your pet hawk moth loves brownies. If it sticks its 6-inch nose straight down into a stack of 1/2-inch-thick brownies, how many brownies can its nose stick through completely?
Answers:
Wee Ones: Try it out for yourself!
Little Kids: 9 inches long.
Bonus: 12 flowers: 4 in the morning plus 8 at night.
Big Kids: 10 1/2 inches long. You can use partial products to multiply whole numbers, then fractions: 3 1/2 x 3 = (3 x 3) + (1/2 x 3) = 9 + 1 1/2.
Bonus: 12 brownies, since each pair of brownies stacks 1 inch and the nose can stick through 6 of those pairs.
