Here's a math puzzler
from the mind of Otis Reedy. See if you can figure it out. Write your answer
in your travel log, then click forward to the next page of the adventure.
(Answers can be found in the Curriculum Connections pages for teachers under
'Math Connections'.)
"OK, fellow brain-benders, here are
the circumstances in which we find ourselves: our goal is to reach the moon;
our method is climbing trees. We'll cut down and stack however many trees
it takes to get there. If the average large rain forest tree is 80 feet tall
(24 meters), how many will we need to cut down and stack up in order to reach
the moon, given that the average distance between the earth and the moon is
approximately 240,000 miles (385,000 kilometers)? Quite simple, you say? Well,
how about this: some scientists estimate that 40 million acres (16 million
hectares) of rain forest are destroyed every year around the world. If there
are 500 large trees per acre (1250 per hectare), how many acres would we have
to cut down to fulfill our quest, and, rounding this figure up to the nearest
thousand, what percentage of the total number of acres felled in one year
would this be? So, how many times could we reach the moon and back if we used
all the rain forest trees that were cut down in one year? How many total miles
could we travel? What other heavenly bodies could we reach if we stacked all
those trees? Have fun figuring it out!"
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