Real-Life Math
You're working at a day care with young children who have had
no previous experience growing plants or vegetables.
You've decided
to spark their interest in the natural world by getting them to grow their
own vegetables outside the classroom. This is just part of your program to
introduce gardening and the joy of nature to these children.
You start
with snap beans because they're one of the easiest vegetables to grow.
After all, you want their first planting experience to be positive. You read
over your gardening notes to see when and how to plant the beans for optimum
growth.
"Math isn't as critical as communication skills," says
Richard Mattson, a professor of horticultural therapy. "But depending on the
work being done, math is used to some extent."
Horticultural therapists
must figure out planting schedules, depths, fertilization schedules and blooming
seasons to make sure that their projects are successful.
These are
the directions you follow to plant the beans:
- Plant 2 weeks after the last spring frost.
- Before planting, mix 0.9 kilograms of fertilizer into the soil.
- Sow seeds 4 centimeters deep in rows 46 centimeters apart.
- Try sowing a new row every 2 weeks, until 2 months before the first fall
frost.
You need to revise the directions so that they're imperial.
How
many pounds of fertilizer will you need to mix into the soil?
How many
inches deep will you plant the seeds, and how many inches apart will the rows
be?
Remember:
1 kg = 2.2 pounds
1 cm = 0.39
inches