Lyric Lacking Limerick

A Maths Starter Of The Day

Copy this limerick and fill in the missing words.

Can you work out the meanings of the words 'dozen', 'gross' and 'score'?

A dozen, a gross, and a score,
Plus three times the square root of  _ _ _ _
Divided by _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _  five times eleven
Equals _ _ _ _ squared and not a bit more.

A Transum Maths Starter Of The Day.


Topics: Starter | Vocabulary

  • Mr Colman, 3rd Class
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  • My class found it very hard but in the end we got it. HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!
  • Room 19, Elm Park Primary School, Auckland, New Zealand
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  • This is how we figured it out:
    12+144+20=176,and the square root of 4 is 2, x3=6 and then we went 6+176=182,
    divided by 7 is 26, and then 5x11=55+26=81 then the square root of 81 is 9.
    Thx.
  • L. Precorn, Emerald Isle
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  • A limerick’s a poem so they say; Also a town down Ireland way. But most people think; There’s really no link. So have a nice Saint Patrick’s Day.
  • Transum,
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  • Today's Starter could be worked on in small groups (the groups could be chosen at random using the Random Student Generator) or it could be an individual Internet research challenge. Parents could also be involved if it is set as part of a homework activity. This Starter helps add variety to the learning of mathematics.
  • Miss C, Scotland
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  • Really enjoyed this starter. My class have been learning about Limericks so found this particularly topical! Thank you for these great resources!
  • Mr. B, Suffolk
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  • 9M1 found the correct solution.

How did you use this starter? Can you suggest how teachers could present or develop this resource? Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for Maths teachers anywhere in the world.
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Previous Day | This starter is for 17 March | Next Day

 

Answers

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Extension Activity

Can you write the limerick as an equation using numbers and symbols but no words?

 

 




Laptops In Lessons

Teacher, do your students have access to computers such as tablets, iPads or Laptops?  This page was really designed for projection on a whiteboard but if you really want the students to have access to it here is a concise URL for a version of this page without the comments:

Transum.org/go/?Start=March17

However it would be better to assign one of the student interactive activities below.

Laptops In Lessons

Here is the URL which will take them to a another missing word activity.

Transum.org/go/?to=tents

Student Activity

 


This limerick was devised by Leigh Mercer (1893-1977)
He also came up with the palindrome "A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!".

 

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