The Desk Duck Travels to Florida

 


Hey kids! Check me out! I spent my Thanksgiving break having fun at Universal Studios with Mr. Johnson from West. Pretty cool huh?

I spent some time visiting with Harry Potter. Here are some fun facts about the Harry Potter books and movies:

Golgomath (one of the largest giants in the Potter universe) may be a play on the word “googol,” a math term for a one with a hundred zeros after it—in other words, one of the largest numbers known.

So many fans visit King’s Cross station to take pictures of platforms 9 and 10 that the station management erected a sign that says “Platform 9 ¾” which, in the Potter books, is invisible to Muggles but acts as a gateway for witches and wizards.

Harry’s birthday is July 31, 1980. Rowling’s birthday is also July 31—but in 1966.

Rowling’s books were the first children’s books included on the New York Bestseller list since E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web in 1952.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 21, 2007, and sold 11 million copies on the first day of its release, breaking Rowling's earlier records for the fastest selling book of all time.

The actress who played Moaning Myrtle is actually 37 years old and is the oldest actress to portray a Hogwarts student.

So here is the math question:

How many pages are in all of the Harry Potter books? If I read 105 pages a day, how long would it take me to finish the entire series from start to finish? I can't wait to hear back from you!

Check out this website to learn more about some of the things I did on my trip. http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Desk Duck Visits ALASKA!!

 

Our first full day in Alaska, duck, me and my parents went In a small airplane. The little plane only held 6 people including the pilot. Everyone got a window seat and a head set to talk and hear other people. We flew over Cook Inlet named after Captain Cook, then we flew over a little bit of flat land and we saw 3 moose that were so big we could see them from 700 feet in the air. The average speed of the plane was 110 knots (a knot is a way to measure the speed of a boat or plane). The pilot decided to land on a little lake in the middle of no where. It was so cool we found some real cool bear tracks. Then we were of back in the air with an altitude of 700 feet. As soon as I notice the pilot is about to land I said to myself “wow that was beautiful”.

The second day in Alaska we were off to Seward on our way to catch a boat to explore Resurrection Bay. Once we got on the boat I noticed our captain had two hooks for hands, a real Captain Hook. He told us that the water was 1000 feet deep and we were going 18.8 knots. We saw hairy legged mountain goats, harbor seals, sea otters, porpoise, and sea lions and it was spectacular.

The average day temperature was 32 degrease Fahrenheit in Alaska or 0 Celsius. There was no snow in Anchorage but there was a lot on the mountains. I wore shorts all the time but most people did not because it is 32 degrease Fahrenheit but it feels like 20 degrease Fahrenheit.

If 3 feet is a meter then how many meters is in 1000 feet, the depth of Resurrection Bay?

How many meters high was the plane that was 700 feet in the air?

If one knot is 1.15 miles per hour, then how fast did we go on the plane that went 110 knots?

How fast did we go on the boat that went 18.8 knots?

Is 5 degrees Celsius colder or hotter than 30 degrees Fareinheight?

Sam's Trip to Germany

 

The Euro is the money German people (and most Europe countries) use. One "euro" is equal to $1.29 of our (U.S.) money. So, dad says the dollar is "weak" in Europe right now. It is expensive for us if we are in their country. If someone from Europe comes to Missouri, it is cheap for them. Their money goes "far" in the U.S.

The places where we have eaten have been pretty cool. They don't have Panera or Olive Garden or Chili's like we do. They have all these cafe's and one of a kind places to eat. Dad calls them hole in the walls. But the food is really good. They mostly eat meat and potatoes, but it is all cooked different and tastes really good. I like the hot chocolate and coffee over here. I actually like all the food over here. They have amazing breakfasts and dinners over here.

It was kind of chilly (about 50 degrees), so we got a coffee and a hot chocolate tonight. It cost 5.80 euros. How much did this cost in our dollars? If the coffee was $3.25 in U.S. money, how much was the hot chocolate in Euros? I got a schnitzel for dinner (pork, cabbage, potatoes). I also got strudel, which is German for apple pie. I also got water with gas, or "water with bubbles" as they call it (THAT is different and takes some getting used to!), but they gave me that for free. Kind of getting used to it. Think of coke without any sugar or without any color or flavor ‑ just water that is carbonated.

Dinner was 14 euros, and the strudel was $2.25 in U.S. dollars. How much was my whole meal in euros? How much in U.S. dollars?

Ok, we went into a castle in Heidelberg that was built in the 1600's. It was HUGE! I mean, really, really HUGE! And really old and beautiful. It had the biggest wine barrel in Germany and also in the world ‑ it was so big, it had a dance floor on top of it! It cost six euros for my dad to get in, and four euros for me. How much was my ticket in U.S. dollars? How much was my dad's in U.S. dollars?

I played a game called "boulle" with these older guys. They didn't charge me any money to play. It is a throwing game, and you play it with these really heavy metal balls. You get three of them, and you have to toss them close to a small marker ball. It has a special floor, and is popular outdoor game in Germany. Right by where we were playing, there were boat races (crew) for Muenster College, which was the local university. There were a lot of people there, and the college kids were drinking a lot and really loud. Anyway, how much did my ticket cost to play in euros?

Desk Duck Travels to GERMANY!!

Hey kids, it's my first time in Europe!! I'm going with a student to Germany tomorrow. I'm so excited about this trip. I'm a little nervous about the plane ride (I've heard it take 17 hours to get to where we are going!) Can you research how far Columbia, MO is from Heidelberg, Germany and help figure out how many miles per hour I will be traveling? I will update you on my travels as soon as possible.

 

The math problem above was taken from a Chinese math book. One of the students on team 63 has re-written the problem in English. Feel free to post a comment with your solution! Happy solving!

David Wax vs Homework

Hey Wildcats!
I'm at the David Wax Museum concert and I'm thinking about the fun times we had in the cafetorium this year. I'm supposed to be at home coming up with a brilliant way to teach equivalent fractions. Feel free to toss me your ideas and help a girl out with her homework!
Miss you!
Mrs. E

Are You Interested in Games?

Hey kids! I recently rediscovered a cool math game from my childhood called "Tac-Tix". This game has been around forever, but they just came out with an iPhone app and now I'm back to being an addict. Here is the wiki that explains the background of the game: Wiki Link and here is a link to play against a computer: Math.com This is a fun game that you can set up anywhere, anytime. When I was a kid we would play with coins or buttons. I hope you can find the time to enjoy a round or two with a friend.

:) Mrs. E

A Room With A View

Yesterday afternoon we went to the top of the hotel. Look at these great views!

More Cupcakes!

You know how hard it is for me to pass up cupcakes! We found a new cupcakery, Heavenly Cupcakes. They were heavenly!

Nautilus Shell

I spent some time shopping this afternoon and I found this great cross-section of a nautilus shell. Did you know this shell's design is related to mathematics?

Check out this cool video about the Fibonacci Sequence: Video Link

If you're interested in learning more about the Fibonacci Sequence, check out this website: Fibonacci Wiki

SMS At The Beach

 

I was down at the beach and thinking about you guys! Miss you! Mrs. E and The Duck.

Rotational Symmetry

We found this on the floor of the Hyatt. Can you figure out the angle of rotation?

Playground Break

 

I let out my inner kid this afternoon and took a turn at the playground across the street from our hotel.

Cool Fountian

We Found The Cupcakes!

Can you figure out how much it would cost to bring back cupcakes for the entire team?

Desk Duck At The Beach

Today we enjoyed an afternoon at the beach. I loved watching and listening to the waves!

 

How Tall is This Guy?

Mrs. Powell and I walked down to the bay this morning and found this giant version on the photograph: V-J Day in Times Square. I'm 5' 3/4'' Can you figure out the height of the solider?

P.S. One of the buttons on her dress is the size of my coffee cup lid.

If you want to learn more about the original photograph, check out this wiki site: V-J in Times Square Wiki

We Made It To San Diego!

 

Hey kids! The Desk Duck and I made to California about 6:30 last night. After we checked into our hotel, we went for a walk on the boardwalk and had dinner at The Fish Market.

We are up ealry this morning, and I'm trying to pick out what to wear. I brought 6 pairs of pants, 8 tops, and 5 pairs of shoes. If I pick an outfit at random, how many choices do I have?

A Picture of Me With My Grandpa

My Favorite Rock

Check Out These Petroglyphs!

Read more about petroglyphs here: petroglyphs wiki

Read this sign...

We read this sign and a few minutes later we ran into a rattlesnake!

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Can you find me?

Mini-Golf

We were playing mini golf last night and we found this neat hole on a catus. Check out this link to learn more about Sagauro cacti. Sagauro Wiki

Desk Duck By The Pool

I don't have any math problems to share, but I wanted to let you know I'm in Arizona and I'm enjoying some time at the pool! I hope you guys are enjoying your springbreak!!

Help! Are These Pizzas Really "Smurf-Sized"?

Last night at dinner, Dane told the boys these pizzas were "Smurf-sized". You know how I feel about accurate proportional reasoning, so I had to disagree with him. These pizzas have a diameter of about 6 cm and that seemed like it was the wrong size to me. Dane argued that no one can really know because we don't know how tall the smurfs are in the cartoon. I argued that we have plenty of benchmarks to judge the height of the smurfs. After all, Gargamel isn't a giant and he has a normal sized cat. Can you help us settle our debate? Here is a link to some very important research: Smurf Wiki and Smurf.com

Mmm, donuts.

Golden Gate Fun

 The picture with the sign says that one of the giant cables is 24,500 tons. I only weigh 2 ounces. How many of my friends would it take to equal that?

There is some glare on the sign and it actually says that the main span is 4200 feet long. It also says that 80,000 miles of wire was used in total. How many times could that wire cross the bridge?

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge was amazing! Luckily it wasn't very windy or I might have ended up in the bay.