Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Math Inspector?
Hey, Gertie here!
Stanley asked Felix and me to come up with a few problems to test whether or not you’ve got what it takes to be a Math Inspector. And as you’d expect, Felix is taking this job quite seriously. In fact, right now he’s doing a handstand in the corner of the tree house while sticking cherry Twizzlers up his nose.
So, as usual, it looks like I will have to do all the work myself.
First, I’m going to let you in on a little secret—all detective stories are word problems. You know, those dreaded last few problems of every math assignment? The ones where you’d rather cuddle with a porcupine than have to solve them? Well, get out your magnifying glass because those problems are there to sharpen your detective skills! I’m pretty sure the ones in your textbooks are so boring because they let the English Club write them. But we won’t let that stop us—we are The Math Inspectors!
I’ve come up with a series of fun detective problems for you to solve. You can find them all here:
Got it? Good.
Oh, no. It looks like Felix has gotten hold of a bag of Cheetos and some powdered donuts. I’d better get Buckets, and fast! Gertie out.
(P.S. If you’re enjoying Felix’s and my extra commentary, remember that all of these questions are built into a whole extra chapter at the end of each book—so don’t forget to follow along there, too.)
The Case of Claymore Diamond (Book #1) Bonus Equations:
Word Problem #1 - A girl named Polly Partridge crawls out from under a rock and walks into a store looking to buy witch’s brooms for the entire English Club. Witch’s brooms are on sale for 10% off the usual price of $15.00, and Polly only has $130.00 to spend. How many brooms can Polly buy with $130.00?
Word Problem #2 – A woman named Stella Burger goes to a camp where they teach people how to properly rhyme. The cost to attend is $12.00 for each half-day, and her boss wants her to attend camp for 9 full days. However, on the 9th day, Stella has to leave halfway through the day to report on the breaking news that a girl from a local English Club has just pulled a muscle in her brain. How much money did Stella spend attending Rhyming Camp?
Word Problem #3 – Let’s say, hypothetically, that Mrs. Blump challenged me to eat as many of her chocolate truffles as I could in 15 minutes. And let’s say that, on average, I can eat 4.7 truffles per minute. How many truffles would I eat in 15 minutes? And, if each truffle cost $1.75, how much money would I spend? And as a bonus, do you think I would end up getting sick right there in the store or somewhere in the street as I rode my bike home?
Word Problem #4 – The annual Biggest Doofus In Ravensburg contest was held, and the race came down to two finalists. A girl named Molly Martridge and a boy named Welix Wervish. Out of the 300 votes cast, 53% were for Mr. Wervish and 47% were for Miss Martridge. How many votes did each candidate get?
Download Book 1 Bonus Equations and Answer Key
The Case of the Mysterious Mr. Jekyll (Book #2) Bonus Equations:
Word Problem #1 – Let’s say that the meanest (and did I mention smelliest?) man in the world, Frank Under, sells 500 hot dogs on a typical Friday night in October. If Under Doggies is only open for 7.5 hours on Friday night, how many hot dogs does Mr. Under sell per hour?
Word Problem #2 – If my secret Chocolate Eyeball Soup recipe calls for a 4:1 ratio of milk to melted chocolate, and I’m using 5 gallons of milk for this batch, how many gallons of melted chocolate do I need?
Word Problem #3 – Let’s further suppose that Mabel decides to start selling jars of my gourmet Chocolate Eyeball Soup. If I decided to make 5.5 gallons of soup and I put them in one-pint jars, how many jars would I need?
Word Problem #4 – Let’s say that the human shoulder stops functioning after being hit 215 times in a row. Let’s say I punch Felix in the shoulder 37 times per hour. At that rate, how many minutes will it take before his shoulder stops working?
Download Book 2 Bonus Equations and Answer Key
The Case of the Christmas Caper (Book #3) Bonus Equations:
Word Problem #1 — You know how boring fishing is? I’ll rate it a 98 out of 100 on the boring scale. In fact, the only thing more boring than fishing is watching Polly and the English Club perform a play. If Felix gets pulled into the water by an enormous fish for just long enough to make his teeth chatter all the way back home to his hot chocolate, it will make fishing today only half as boring as usual. So, here’s the question. If Felix takes a short ice bath, how boring will fishing be today on the old boring scale?
Word Problem #2 — So, a fishing license around here costs $10 for a kid. If you get caught fishing without a license, the park ranger makes you pay the full price of the license, plus an additional penalty of 130% of the original price of a license. What is the total amount of money Gertie will have to pay when I call my dad’s buddy, the park ranger, and tell him Gertie is fishing without a license today?
Word Problem #3 — Last week, Felix came out to Lake Ravensburg for a whole day of fishing with his dad. Felix only caught two fish that whole day. In just the short amount of time I’ve been here today, I’ve caught five fish and have another on the line now. Youch—this one’s a fighter. Counting this one, I’ve caught six fish this week while Felix only caught two fish last week.
Now, here’s your fill-in-the-blank question:
Therefore Gertie, the greatest fisherwoman on earth, has caught _______________ % more fish than Felix.
Word Problem #4 — Fishing is the worst thing in the world, and only doofuses do it. If I charge Felix 25 cents per hour for the honor of shoveling my family’s driveway this winter, how many hours will he have to shovel in order to pay off my fishing license and the ticket I got today when the park ranger “mysteriously” appeared out of nowhere to penalize me for doing something I’m never going to do again?
Word Problem #5 — In the spirit of winter, I would like to talk about penguins—specifically the emperor penguin. The average adult emperor penguin is 4 feet and 0 inches tall. Another very interesting fact is that the average twelve-year-old Gertie is only 4 feet and 9 inches tall. Expressed in terms of feet, how many feet taller is the average Gertie than the average emperor penguin? (Hint: the answer should be given as a fraction.)
Download Book 3 Bonus Equations and Answer Key
The Case of the Hamilton Roller Coaster (Book #4) Bonus Equations:
Word Problem #1—Felix’s Business Proposal: Fertie’s Cat Wash Co.
If Fertie’s Cat Wash Co. charges $5.00 per wash, how much money will we make per cat wash after paying for our business costs? Round up to the nearest cent when necessary.
Business Costs:
Plastic tub: Free, if Buckets doesn’t mind sharing his.
Cat shampoo: $3.25 per bottle. Each bottle contains enough for 10 washes.
Drying towel: Free from Felix’s closet. Each towel will cost 25 cents to clean. Each cat will use 1 towel.
Ribbons: $2.50 per bag. Each bag contains 25 ribbons. Each cat gets 1 ribbon.
Kitty Treats: $5.20 per box. Each box contains 39 organic kitty treats. Each cat gets 1 treat.
Cuddles: Free, if Buckets doesn’t mind sharing his.
Word Problem #2—Felix’s Follow-Up
Using your answer from Word Problem #1, how many cats would I need to bathe before I earn $1000?
Word Problem #3—Gertie’s Business Proposal: Gerlix’s Smoothie Stand
If Gerlix’s Smoothie Stand charges $2.00 per serving, how much profit will we make on each flavor of smoothie? Round up to the nearest cent if necessary.
Smoothie 1: Orange You Glad It’s Summer?
Orange sherbet: $0.75
Limeade: $0.30
Crushed ice: $0.05
Cup: $0.06
Smoothie 2: Santa’s On Vacation
Vanilla ice cream: $0.80
Peppermint candy: $0.10
Almond milk: $0.35
Cup: $0.06
Smoothie 3: How Felix Gets His Veggies
Oreos: $0.20
Chocolate Ice Cream: $0.90
Coconut Milk: $0.35
Kale: $0.05
Spinach: $0.05
Cup: $0.06
Word Problem #4—Gertie’s Follow-Up
If I donate all my profits from every How Felix Gets His Veggies smoothie we sell, how many veggie smoothies do I need to sell before I earn $100?
Word Problem #5—Felix Throws It Over to You
Use your Math Inspector skills to come up with a business proposal yourself!
Download Book 4 Bonus Equations and Answer Key
The Case of the Forgotten Mine (Book #5) Bonus Equations:
Game 1— Math Buzz:
Gertie: When someone says one of the numbers in my secret sequence, I’ll say the word “buzz.” You all need to concentrate on which numbers get buzzed and try to figure out what the sequence is. If you do, raise your hand. If you can correctly explain the sequence to the group, you are awarded a point, and you get to sit in the middle of the circle and think of a sequence for everybody else to figure out.
Let’s do a practice round. One, two (buzz), three, four (buzz), five, six (buzz). Can you guess the sequence? That’s right! The sequence is even numbers.
Here’s a harder one. One (buzz), two, three, four (buzz), five, six, seven, (buzz) eight, nine, ten (buzz), eleven, twelve, thirteen, (buzz)…
Word Problem # 1 –Can you guess what number will be buzzed next?
Word Problem # 2 –What’s the sequence?
Game 2— Hunt the Shoe:
FELIX: Okay, my turn. You guys are going to love this game. I’ll have you all stay in the same circle you were in for the last game, but this time, I’ll be in the middle. I’m going to hand a shoe to one of you, and then I’ll cover my eyes with my hands. I’ll give you all 30 seconds to pass the shoe around the circle, but make sure to keep it behind your backs at all times. Then I’ll open my eyes. I get to ask three questions, and you can only answer “yes” or “no.” Then I have to guess where the shoe is. Any questions?
GERTIE: I have two. First, are you crazy? Felix, this is the dumbest game I’ve ever heard of. No, not because you’re having them pass around a shoe, but because you’re having them pass around your shoe. By the smell of that thing, it’s not going to take the person in the middle more than two seconds to sniff out its location. Secondly, what in the world does this have to do with math?
FELIX: Good point on the smell of my shoe being a dead giveaway, Short Stuff. Let’s use your shoes instead. And this game has lots to do with math. It’s all about the strategy. Take these next problems, for example.
Word Problem # 3 –If there are nine kids in the circle, what are my chances of finding the shoe in one guess?
Word Problem # 4 –If I use three questions to figure out that three of you are not holding the shoe, what are my chances of finding the shoe then?
Game 3— Sack Race:
GERTIE: Let’s talk sack races. You’ve probably seen this one before because we still play it these days. It’s pretty simple. You each get in a big sack, line up at the start line, and race to see who can jump to the finish line the fastest. So far, this might not seem like this is a math game. But like Felix said, it’s all about the strategy. Take a look.
Word Problem # 5 –Let’s say the racecourse is 60 feet long, and Felix is foolish enough to challenge me to a sack race. Felix has those long skinny legs, so he jumps his sack five feet per jump, and it takes him two seconds to complete each jump. I have somewhat smaller legs, so I jump my sack three feet per jump, but I jump at a rate of one second per jump. Which of us would cross the finish line first? How fast did Felix complete the race? How fast did I complete the race?
Download Book 5 Bonus Equations and Answer Key
In Conclusion (Because Gertie Said We Need One)
Well, if you’ve made it this far, congratulations! Either you love math… or you just really enjoy hanging out with two seventh-grade legends. (That’s us, by the way.)
These bonus equations were no joke. But you cracked them like a cold can of root beer on a hot day. Nicely done.
And remember — math isn’t just about numbers. It’s about seeing what no one else sees. Solving what no one else can. And, occasionally, annoying your friends with long-winded explanations that involve marshmallows and catapult physics.
Especially marshmallows.
Definitely marshmallows.
So go forth, Math Inspector. Keep solving mysteries, keep asking questions, and if anyone ever tells you math is boring… send them to us. We’ll fix them.
Gertie and Felix out!
