Today from Bedtime Math: Invasion of the Lionfish

Lionfish, as you might guess, are fish that look like lions. These spiky, stripy, safari-spirited sea creatures are beautiful, but they're poisonous - and they're taking over the Atlantic Ocean. They are multiplying too fast because they don't normally live in the Atlantic, so they have no "predators," or other animals that like to eat them (this is where being poisonous comes in handy). To top it off, one lionfish can lay 30,000 eggs at a time. As a result, they're eating up 90% of the fish that live in Bermuda's coral reef. Fortunately, lionfish are very tasty to us people, and can be prepared safely...so Florida restaurants have started serving lionfish for dinner. But can we eat up all of these fish before they eat everyone else?

Now here's today's math~

Wee ones: How many white-tipped spiky fins does this fish have along the top? Count them!

Little kids: If you're fishing for salmon but every other fish you catch is a lionfish, starting with the 2nd fish, which type of fish is your 10th fish?  Bonus: If every 3rd fish is a particularly huge fish, which type and size of fish is the 9th fish?

Big kids: All lionfish appear to be the great-great-great-grandchildren of just 1 of a set of 6 fish, probably pet fish that were dumped by their owners. If those 6 fish each laid 30,000 eggs, how many new fish were in that first generation?  Bonus: If 25 restaurants in Florida each serve 2 lionfish dishes per night, how many fish can they all serve in a week?

Answers:

Wee ones: 11 fins.

Little kids: A lionfish.  Bonus: A huge salmon.

Big kids: 180,000 fish.  Bonus: 350, since together they serve 50 per night.