Here are a few of the best Halloween math problems sent to us by teachers and others:
An adult skeleton has 206 bones. There are 27 bones in a hand and 26 bones in a foot. How many bones are not in the hands or feet?
2. Count Juan Toothree is giving a party at his haunted castle. Throughout the evening guests come and go. 10 guests go in. 2 come out. 12 more go in. 3 come out. 6 go in. 8 come out. 10 more go in. 1 comes out. And just before midnight 2 go in and 8 come out. How many guests are at the party at midnight?
3. Punkin Chunkin is an event in which machines such as catapults are used to hurl pumpkins the greatest distance. One of the goals of the WCPCA (World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association) is to hurl a pumpkin a full mile. The current record is 4,484 feet. How many more feet do they have to go? The pumpkin would need to travel at 1000 mph in order to make it the full mile. How long will it take to reach it’s goal? Once you’ve solved this trick, treat your students to one of the punkin chuckin videos on the Science Channel’s website. http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin
4. Anoka, MN is the Halloween Capital of the World. They created the first Halloween parade in 1920. How many years will it be before they can celebrate their 100th anniversary? How many months? Think that’s scary, now try to figure out how many days?
5. After scooping out and carving the Jack O Lantern, the class counted 162 pumpkin seeds. Their teacher roasted the pumpkin seeds for a tasty treat. She wanted to divide the seeds up evenly among all her students. There were 18 students in the class. How many pumpkin seeds did each student get?