Life as a fish – even as a stingray, with its cool spike – can’t be very exciting, except when some other animal tries to catch you. Well, this stingray has been caught twice by fishermen, and broke a world record both times! Most recently it was 14 feet long, but it was 15 feet long the first time it was caught (its stinger had broken since). Clearly this fish just likes to show off for us.
Wee ones: A stingray is almost shaped like a circle. Find 4 circle-shaped things in your classroom.
Little kids: If the stingray was 6 feet long last time and 8 feet long this time, what counting number did we miss in between? Bonus: If a 6-foot tall basketball player stretches out flat next to the 14-foot stingray, how much longer is the stingray than the basketball player?
Big kids: If the stingray grew from 6 1/2 feet wide to 8 feet wide, how many feet did it grow? Bonus: If you line up a bunch of 14-foot-long stingrays end to end, how few 6-foot-tall people can line up end to end to match exactly a whole number of stingrays? What’s the smallest number that works?
Answers:
Wee ones: Items might include a clock, buttons, smiley faces, and the letter O on a book cover.
Little kids: 7. Bonus: 8 feet longer.
Big kids: 1 1/2 feet. Bonus: 7 people. They will stretch 42 feet long, which equals 3 stingrays. 42 is the smallest common product of 14 and 6…both numbers are divisible by 2, so you don’t need to do 14 x 6. 14 x 3 will give you a number that can be divided by both.
