Some Grand Random Challenges Devised by Phil Gulliver
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The Grand Random Challenge number game: 1 one to 9 nines Your mission is to achieve the greatest Grand Random Challenge status
HINT – read the whole task sheet before you start. Draw a simple map (straight line) of a short trip you have been on locally. To the shops, school, cinema or park for example. You will need 10 copies of this. Number them 1 to 10. Show on each map where you saw the numbers 1-9. On map 1 draw on the position where you saw 1 example of the number 1, on map 2 draw on where you saw two different examples of the number two and so on until you have a map with nine different examples of the number nine. On the last map draw where you saw one example of each of the numbers 1-9. You will have ten maps. Try to include different number examples on each map. Below is an example of a number 5 map and the sort of things you might see to put on it. (But the grander and more random examples are the best!) 5 spots
5 steps
5 stripes
Number 5
Channel 5
5 pence
5 pounds
5 sides
5 past
5 doors
5 miles
5 sheep
HINT – look at the next page before you decide
5 steps on the slide in the park
5 people on the number 5 bus
Left home at 5 to 3
The bridge is 5 minutes from home
House number 5
My Number 5 map
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As you travel on your journey, keep a record of the number examples you have seen. A table such as the one below would be great.
Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Choose one object from each set in the table and apply the following rules:Score each map, and then add the scores together to give a final total. 1 x the legs on your object = score (if no legs then score = 1 x 0) 2 x the sides on one of your objects (if neither object has any sides then score 2 x 0) 3 x spots on your object 4 x the value of your object in SHEEP (round up to the nearest whole sheep) - how much does a sheep cost? 5 x distance in centimetres around your object 6 x how far you could throw your object in hedgehog lengths (how long is a hedgehog?) 7 x approximate speed in miles per hour of your object (whole numbers only) 8 x how high your object could jump in centimetres (whole numbers only) 9 x how long in hours it would take to eat your object (round up to whole number) For map ten you will have 9 calculations to do – choose your objects carefully. Note you do not have to choose the same objects for this map but they must be from your original set! Note: - you may use a calculator for these sums
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My total score =
Divide the total score by your age in months (round to whole number)
Final score
=
Use the chart to find out how you have done, but remember this is the Grand Random Challenge so there are no winners and losers.
GRC level 2500
your Score
2000
1500
1000
500
0 Petite Fromage
Function Master
pi Squire
Math-mo Minor
Big Cheese
Broadland Scorcher
status
A score above 2000 automatically elevates your status to that of Random Grander
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Page for some sums
PS –
20 hedgehogs are about 4 metres long and 1 metre = 100 centimetres A sheep might cost around 8000 pence
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Spend you age challenge Can you spend exactly your age?
Today's date:
Your age
Your date of Birth:
years
months
days
Years are worth ÂŁ10 each Months are worth ÂŁ1 each Days are 1 pence each What is the total amount you have to spend?
Rules Only Food can be purchased Only 1 of each item You must include: 1 product that flows 1 product from something that flies 1 product from something with pips that grows in a Mediterranean country 1 product that you cannot see when it is growing 1 item only must be priced between 89p and 99p You must spend EXACTLY your age There is no limit to the number of items
The Grand and Random activities Complete the table on the next page or make one of your own
Devise a Grand Random horrid recipe using at least six items from your shopping. Give the dish a name and calculate the cost of making enough to feed six people.
Oh, and if instead of buying what's on your list, you purchased eggs with all of the money and made one giant omelette. How many rabbits would it take to balance a seesaw against the weight of the omelette?
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Amount you have to spend Item
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Cost
Required item Yes/No
ÂŁ Money left
The Grand Random Challenge bursts into song (perhaps)
OK so for this challenge you need to be creative. Using the following Grand Random Challenge question, write a story, a poem, compose a song or write the script for a play that helps others work out an answer to the problem. You could even produce a short animation or movie if you wish. The choice is up to you. A seagull is hopping along the road holding an ice lolly in its beak. How far will it get before all of the lolly is melted? You could also have a look at the clip our YouTube channel or listen to the audio on Soundcloud.com. Just search for grandrandomchallenge. Once you have completed your masterpiece then ask 5 people you know to give it a score using a tin of baked beans. They could give a score of 1/8th 1/4th 1/3rd or 7/8th of a tin Remember this is the Grand Random Challenge so scores are not always what they might seem! Complete the table below to arrive at your final score Scorers name
score
Do this Total from each sum person X10 X20 X40 X80 X100
GRAND TOTAL
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The Grand Random Challenge crashes into a custard tart! For this challenge you will need a piece of A4 paper. Make a paper aeroplane and throw it 12 times. Count or time the seconds that it is in the air each flight and measure the distance it travels using your footsteps. On a separate piece of paper present your black box flight data in the form of a table. Fold it up and put it in a box.
Oh No! Your plane has crashed in the garden somewhere. You decide where, and bury the flight data using a suitable container. Using custard tarts as a unit of measure, devise four clues to the whereabouts of the data recorder in your garden. Try it out on at least four different friends giving them 100 seconds for the task. Did they find the data in time?
Draw a scale plan of your garden and mark on it the position of the buried flight data. Show also, as accurately as possible, the positions that your friends thought the custard tart clues led to.
Calculate the speed your paper plane was travelling and express this in terms of custard tarts per second.
Give yourself a score out of 77 Write three reasons why you have given yourself that score
1
2
3
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Grand Random Challenge goes to Italy? This time your challenge is about pasta. What you need to do is measure the length of a piece of spaghetti and then calculate the length of spaghetti in a whole packet. Next you need to note down your shoe size and measure the length of one of the laces.
Now for the challenge!
Work out the length of laces required for the whole population of Rome – some 2.8 million!
If they were to tie their shoes with spaghetti, how many packets would be needed, and how many portions of spaghetti bolognaise would it make? Oh, and how many barrow loads of parmesan cheese would you need?
Finally, if lace length was proportional to shoe size what size shoe would you be able to lace with the contents from one packet of spaghetti
Please email grandrandomcow@gmail.com with your answers and a Grand Random Challenge recipe for using up a packet of spaghetti.
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Grand Random Challenge steps out!
What you need to do:Ask somebody to jump as far as they can and measure the distance in hedgehogs! Repeat 9 more times (10 jumps in total) Calculate the mean distance they jump in hedgehogs! GRC says that 1 hedgehog = 3 blackbirds and 1 blackbird = 7 butterflies. So express your answer in whole hedgehogs, blackbirds and butterflies. On 3 separate trips count the number of paving stones you see in a 137 second period. Ask somebody else to time if necessary. Calculate the mean number. OK so this is the tricky bit! Now what you need to do is assume all the paving stones are separated by the mean jump distance and work out in metres how far they would take you from your house or school in a south easterly direction. It's a little like asking a hedgehog to walk backwards. This is the Grand Random Challenge so you can walk through or on anything. Where did you end up? Given the choice which direction would you choose, north, south east or west? Why? Finally work out how long it would take the following to travel that distance:A hedgehog hopping A blackbird tumbling A butterfly flying but going around the perimeter of each paving stone, not just in a straight line. Which is quicker?
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How has your bean been doing? Plant a bean seed in a pot water it, and wait for it to start growing. Note down the date on which you sowed the seed. Measure how tall it is each day and mark that down in a table that you have drawn.
Once the bean is too big to stay in the pot then you might like to plant it in the garden or give it to somebody else who has the space. Note the date on which your bean was too big for the pot. Use your data to calculate the following things about your bean
The number of days between sowing the bean seed and it becoming too big for the pot The total growth of the plant in millimetres What was the average growth of your bean in millimetres per day? Approximately how many beans would you need for the total distance of bean growth to be equal to the length of 1000 carrots?
If a cow was travelling at the same speed as the bean was growing how many times would it go around the perimeter of a football pitch in 100 years?
Magically - mm per day becomes kilometres per hour – how many revolutions of the pitch would the cow complete then?
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The measure hunt Task 1:- The table below show you many units of measure that are no longer in common use. Your challenge is to find common objects or distances in your life, home, garden or school that would be equal to one of these measurements. Draw a table to show your findings
Task 2:- Express each as a number of, a fraction of or a mixed fraction of a fully grown pig.
Did you know? For every human in the world, there are one million ants. A snail can sleep for 3 years at a stretch. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave. Polar bears are left-handed
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furlong
201.17 m
8 furlongs = 1 mile
inch
2.54 cm
12 inches = 1 foot
link
20.12 cm
100 links = 1 chain 7.92 inches = 1 link
foot
30.48 cm
12 inches = 1 foot
cable
185.32 m
608 feet = 1 cable
yard
91.44 cm
3 feet = 1 yard
hand
10.16 cm
4 inches = 1 hand
link
20.12 cm
100 links = 1 chain
nail
5.72 cm
16 nails = 1 yard
rod, pole or perch
5.03 m
40 poles = 1 furlong
finger
11.43 cm
8 fingers = 1 yard
span
22.86 cm
9 inches = 1 span
3 feet = 1 yard
span
22.86 cm
9 inches = 1 span
1760 yards = 1 mile 7.92 inches = 1 link 4 poles =1 chain 1 rod = 1 pole = 1 perch 4 spans = 1 yard
40 yards = 1 bolt
cubit
45.72 cm
18 inches = 1 cubit
2 cubits = 1 yard
barleycorn 8.47 mm
3 barleycorns = 1 inch
clothyard
93.98 cm
37 inches = 1 yard
poppy seed
4 poppy seeds = 1 barleycorn
ell
114.3 cm
45 inches = 1 ell
5.5 yards = 1 pole
32 ells = 1 bolt bolt
36.58 m
2.12 mm
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5 spans = 1 ell
Page for some sums
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The Grand Random Challenge goes for a ride For this challenge you need to be travelling in a bus, car or train for approximately 30 minutes. Your challenge is to count various objects! You will need some sort of timer and something to write a tally chart onto. The first part of the challenge has 10 counts to complete. 2 min – count the number of electricity pylons (ones with workman on count 4 times) 2 min – count the number of tractors (combine harvesters count double) 2 min – count the number of 3 wheel vehicles or buggies (ones with dogs in count 7 times) 2 min – count the number of trees shorter than a cow (pollard trees count 5 times) 2 min – count the number of solar panels (Panels on shed roofs count six times) 2 min – count the number of numbers (the number 5 counts five times) 2 min – count the number of bridges (aqueducts count treble) 2 min – count the number of animals wearing coats (camels count 15 times) 2 min – count the number of rotary washing lines (those actually turning around in the wind count 17 times) 2 min – count the number of ponds or lakes (those with gnomes fishing count 50 times) Rules: Look up any words you do not understand before the start of the challenge You must use the items in the order given above. No substitutes are allowed All items must have been seen by you Calculate your total score - but any 2 min counts of zero are scored at minus 40 Answer this BIDMAS question – Which is the greater number? Short trees divided by bridges times by ponds minus solar panels plus buggies. Or Tractors minus numbers divided by buggies plus pylons plus (bridges times animals wearing coats) times short trees. Using your tally chart(s) produce a chart to present your results to others.
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The Grand Random Challenge goes sort of number sorting This challenge is simply to try and match up the numbers with the "Grand and Random" things. A few are quite easy ones, others, you can probably work out and some are just plain and simple very big or very small! Here are your numbers:93, 70, 36, 12,429, 10 -15 25, 320, 6, 300, 3.94, 5505O, 50,450, 8.916 About 13, 15013, 173.6, 17,543,940,979,332,434, 43, 775, 1 000 000 Here are your things: Distance from Planet earth to the sun in millions of miles Dual carriageway speed limit in miles per hour
The surface area of sow in centimetres squared
The number of inches in 1 yard
Gallons of water in the Atlantic Ocean
Distance around UK coastline in kilometres The average weight of a single virus in grams
3x3x3 Rubik's cube combinations in quintillions
Calories in a Cadbury cream egg
Rooms in Buckingham Palace
The weight of a dinosaur egg in pounds
Temperature of the sun in degrees Celsius
Google hits in millions per day
Length of the Channel tunnel in metres
The number of trillion miles in 1 light year
Height of the tallest man in feet
The speed of thought in milliseconds
The number of millimetres in 1 kilometre
Value of all the paper money in the world in trillions of dollars
The number of camels in the world in millions
No numbers are used more than once so you can cross them off as you go if that helps. Have 5 tries writing them down each time and modifying your choices or guesses as you progress through the challenge. Of course you could use the internet and just search for them but that's not really "playing the game". Once you have got the numbers sorted why not try it out on some friends? Finally log on to www.grandrandomchallenge.co.uk to check your answers.
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The triangular cow Devise a formula using 4 triangles to calculate an approximate value for the surface area of a cow.
Devise a similar formula using any regular shapes to approximate the surface area of human beings. If 2 litres of milk will make 500 grams of cream cheese how many cheese triangles could you make from the milk produced from cows with a combined surface area of 3001 square metres? How much shelf space would the boxes take up in your local supermarket? Consider your protein intake over the course of a single week, compare it to the protein produced by 3001 sq. metres of cow surface area. If the overall stocking density of cows is 2.5 per hectare and the stocking density of people on the London Underground (rush hour) is 3 per square metre which has the highest animal surface area per hectare? How many cheese triangles could a London Tube train produce if all the people surface area was cow surface area? How does this compare to your local shopping centre on a Saturday?
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Page for some sums
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Grand Random Challenge says goodbye
A cow parachutes down into a 1 hectare field and poo’s. What is the probability of it dropping in a particular 1metre square?
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