Today from Bedtime Math: Happy Birthday Louisiana!

Try this fun math challenge with your kids!

Louisiana may be just one of the 50 United States, but boy, it was a big chunk of the country when it joined. The Louisiana Purchase was a giant piece of land bought from France in 1803 while Thomas Jefferson was president. The 828,000 square miles included part of today's little Louisiana, as well as parts of other states all the way up to Montana and North Dakota. It doubled the size of the country in one fell swoop! Jefferson and James Monroe, who closed the deal and eventually became president himself, wanted Louisiana badly because New Orleans was such an important city, sitting at the mouth of the country's biggest river, the Mississippi. Louisiana became the 18th state on April 30 in 1812, and today many of the people, streets, and Cajun and Creole foods still have French names.

Now here's today's math~ 

Wee ones: Which number year is bigger (and later): 1803 or 1812?

Little kids: If Louisiana was the 18th state in the U.S., how many states came before it?  Bonus: The Louisiana Purchase added 6 whole states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and almost all of South Dakota) plus pieces of 7 others, including Louisiana. How many of today's states were part of the Purchase?

Big kids: New Orleans loves its fried green tomatoes (not so French). If every green tomato gives you 5 slices big enough to bread and fry, how many fried green tomato slices can you get from 20 tomatoes?  Bonus: Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the U.S. (450 feet tall) and also the world's tallest steel "room" with no poles holding up the middle (the Superdome, at 273 feet tall). How many feet taller is the capitol?

 

 

 

 

 

Answers:

Wee ones: 1812.

Little kids: 17 states.  Bonus: 13 states.

Big kids: 100 slices.  Bonus: 177 feet.