Number (multiplication and division): Robin & Wild Boar
Did you Know?
The parental instincts of robins are highly developed, which has led to frequent reports of robins feeding the chicks of other species such as the song thrush and the blackbird.
The Problem
It was April and the snow was long gone. However, the wild boar were still churning up the soil on the forest floor and unearthing lots of delicious worms. Because of this, Rachel the robin managed to find 24 juicy worms. She divided the worms equally among her own chicks and the chicks of Sally the song thrush.
How many chicks might there have been in Rachel’s nest?
How many chicks might there have been in Sally’s nest?
Can you convince a friend that you’ve found all possible solutions?
Did you know?
Wild boar live on every continent apart from Antarctica. They can be found living in forests, grasslands and wetlands.
Visualising the Problem and Getting Started
You might want to use counters to help you represent the 24 worms that Rachel found.
If you’re not sure where to start, try a smaller number first. What if Rachel shared 6 worms equally? How many chicks of each species might there have been?
Reem said, “If 24 worms were shared equally, there could have been 4 robin chicks and 4 song thrush chicks.”
Do you agree with Reem? How do you know?
