Some fun math and problem solving to lead us into the long weekend in Room 13 today!! Students worked in small groups to try and solve the following riddle after watching a video of the problem on Ted ED. https://youtu.be/7yDmGnA8Hw0
Do you think you can solve it? If not, ask your child to help 😉
Can you solve the bridge riddle?
Taking that internship in a remote mountain lab might not have been the best idea.
Pulling that lever with the skull symbol just to see what it did probably wasn’t so smart, either, but now is not the time for regrets because you need to get away from these mutant zombies fast. With you are the janitor, the lab assistant, and the old professor.
You’ve gotten a headstart, but there’s only one way to safety: across an old rope bridge spanning a massive gorge. You can dash across in a minute, while the lab assistant takes two minutes. The janitor is a bit slower and needs five minutes, and the professor takes a whole ten minutes, holding onto the ropes every step of the way.
By the professor’s calculations, the zombies will catch up to you in just over 17 minutes, so you only have that much time to get everyone across and cut the ropes. Unfortunately, the bridge can only hold two people at a time. To make matters worse, it’s so dark out that you can barely see, and the old lantern you grabbed on your way only illuminates a tiny area.
Can you figure out a way to have everyone escape in time? Remember: no more than two people can cross the bridge together, anyone crossing must either hold the lantern or stay right next to it, and any of you can safely wait in the dark on either side of the gorge.
Most importantly, everyone must be safely across before the zombies arrive. Otherwise, the first zombie could step on the bridge while people are still on it. Finally, there are no tricks to use here. You can’t swing across, use the bridge as a raft, or befriend the zombies.
Some of the thinking that happened during the process:
"I know, someone can piggyback someone else!"
"Can they leave the lantern on the bridge?"
"Can you make someone run so they are faster?"
"Can we leave the old professor to be eaten by the zombies?"
"I think the fastest and the slowest need to go first"
"The two fastest should go together and then one of them goes to get the slowest one at a time"
"This is impossible!"
"Every time we try, it takes either 18 or 19 minutes Aaahhhhhh"
"Can we take it outside at recess?"
"Don't tell us the answer!! We want to figure it out!"
"We did it!"
