1.
A kite maker ends the day with 7 kites. In the afternoon he sold half of everything he had. That morning he built 4 new ones. How many did he start the day with?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? Kites were invented in China more than 2,000 years ago, long before anyone thought of flying in one.
2.
20 kites are flying. 12 have tails, 9 have bells, and 4 have both. How many have neither?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? Before aeroplanes, weather scientists sent thermometers up on kites to find out what the air was doing higher up.
3.
A kite competition scores in a pattern: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, ___, ___. What are the next two, and what is the rule?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? The Wright brothers flew their first designs as kites on strings before they ever risked sitting in one.
4.
On a balance, 2 large kites weigh the same as 5 small kites. And 1 small kite weighs the same as 3 bells. How many bells balance 4 large kites?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? Alexander Graham Bell built kites out of hundreds of linked triangles, big enough to lift a person off the ground.
1.
Three fliers — Yusuf, Musa, and Hamza — each fly a different colour kite (red, green, blue) at a different place (hill, beach, park). Who flies which, and where?
1. Musa does not fly the red kite. 2. The blue kite flies at the beach. 3. Hamza flies at the hill and not the green kite. 4. Yusuf does not fly at the beach.
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? A kite climbs because the wind striking its tilted face is pushed downward, and the air pushes back just as hard.
2.
Two kite festivals run on cycles: one every 15 days, the other every 20 days. Both are held today. In how many days will they fall on the same day again?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? Kite fighting, where flyers try to cut each other's lines in mid-air, is a serious sport in several countries.
3.
Someone snapped the big kite's line. Anas says: "Bilal did it." Bilal says: "I didn't do it." Idris says: "Anas did it."
Exactly one of the three is lying. Who broke the line?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? Benjamin Franklin is said to have flown a kite in a thunderstorm in 1752 to show that lightning is electricity.
4.
You have 8 kites that look identical, but one is heavier. Using a balance scale, what is the fewest weighings that is guaranteed to find it?
SHOW YOUR THINKING
Answer:
Did you know? In the 1800s, kites carried the first lines across deep gorges — the line pulled a rope, the rope pulled a cable, and the cable carried a bridge.
3rd Grade
1. 10 kites.
Backwards, flipping each step: 7 left after halving → 14. Undo building 4 → 10. Check forwards: 10 + 4 = 14, sell half = 7. ✓
2. 3 kites.
At least one = 12 + 9 − 4 = 17. Then 20 − 17 = 3.
3. 21 and 28. The gaps go up by one each time.
Gaps are 2, 3, 4, 5 — so next gaps are 6 and 7. 15 + 6 = 21, then 21 + 7 = 28.
4. 30 bells.
4 large is double 2 large, so 4 large = 10 small. Each small is 3 bells, so 10 × 3 = 30.
4th Grade
1. Hamza — red — hill · Musa — blue — beach · Yusuf — green — park.
Clue 3 puts Hamza on the hill, so not blue (beach, clue 2), and not green → Hamza, red. Clue 1 rules Musa off red anyway. Clue 4 keeps Yusuf off the beach, so Yusuf isn't blue → Musa, blue, beach and Yusuf, green, leaving Yusuf the park.
2. 60 days.
The first number both 15 and 20 divide into: multiples of 20 are 20, 40, 60, and 60 ÷ 15 = 4. So 60 days.
3. Anas broke it.
Careful — this time exactly one lies, so two are telling the truth. If Anas did it: Anas lies, Bilal is honest, Idris is honest — exactly one lie. ✓ If Bilal did it: Bilal and Idris both lie — two. ✗ If Idris did it: Anas and Idris both lie — two. ✗
4. 2 weighings.
Split 3 / 3 / 2. Weigh 1: the two 3s. If one side sinks you have 3 left; if they balance you have the 2 left. Weigh 2: from 3, weigh one against another (sinks = that one, balances = the third); from 2, just weigh them. 2 either way.