1.
A rover collects 74 rock samples. Each storage tray holds 8. How many trays are completely full? How many trays are needed to store every sample?
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Answer:
Did you know? A day on Mars is called a sol, and it lasts about 24 hours 37 minutes — just a little longer than ours.
2.
A rover drives 128 metres a day for 7 days. Of that distance, 245 metres was backtracking over ground it had already covered. How much new ground did it cover?
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Answer:
Did you know? Radio signals take between 4 and 24 minutes to reach Mars, so nobody can steer a rover live — it has to think for itself.
3.
A rover takes 12 photos a day for 5 days. The team deletes 8 blurry ones, then shares the rest equally between 4 scientists. How many photos does each scientist get?
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Answer:
Did you know? Ingenuity, a helicopter the size of a tissue box, made the first powered flight on another planet in 2021.
4.
One rover's battery is 2/3 charged. Another is 5/9 charged. Which rover has more charge left?
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Answer:
Did you know? Opportunity was built to last 90 days. It kept working for about 15 years.
5.
A rectangular solar panel covers 56 square feet. One side is 7 feet long. How long is the other side, and what is the perimeter?
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Answer:
Did you know? Martian dust storms can swallow the entire planet, and the dust settling on solar panels is what finally stopped Opportunity.
1.
A rover spends 3/8 of a sol drilling and 1/6 of a sol driving. What fraction of the sol is that altogether?
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Answer:
Did you know? Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system — Olympus Mons, about 22 km high, nearly three Everests.
2.
A rover covers 1,246 metres over 5 sols, driving the same distance each sol with a little left over. How far each sol, and how much is left over?
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Answer:
Did you know? Mars' atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide, and so thin that liquid water would boil away almost instantly.
3.
A battery holds 4.75 units of power. Crossing a dune uses 1.8 units. How much is left?
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Answer:
Did you know? Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in 2021, a place scientists think was a river delta billions of years ago.
4.
Over 48 sols, a rover sends back 25 photos each sol. How many photos is that in total?
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Answer:
Did you know? Rovers carry their own nuclear battery, which is why they keep working through the freezing Martian night.
5.
A rover travels at 3.5 metres per minute for 24 minutes, then reverses 12.5 metres to get around a rock. How far from its start is it now?
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Answer:
Did you know? Rover wheels are aluminium, and Curiosity's picked up holes from sharp Martian rocks within its first two years.
3rd Grade
1. 9 full trays; 10 trays to hold them all.
74 ÷ 8 = 9 remainder 2. The 2 spare samples need a tray of their own: 10.
2. 651 metres.
128 × 7 = 896 m driven. Then 896 − 245 = 651 m of new ground.
3. 13 photos each.
12 × 5 = 60, then 60 − 8 = 52, then 52 ÷ 4 = 13. Three steps, in that order.
4. The 2/3 rover.
Ninths for both: 2/3 = 6/9. And 6/9 beats 5/9.
5. Other side 8 ft; perimeter 30 ft.
56 ÷ 7 = 8 ft. Perimeter = 7 + 8 + 7 + 8 = 30 ft.
4th Grade
1. 13/24 of a sol.
24ths work for 8 and 6: 3/8 = 9/24 and 1/6 = 4/24. 9/24 + 4/24 = 13/24.
2. 249 metres each sol, remainder 1.
1,246 ÷ 5 = 249 remainder 1. Check: 249 × 5 = 1,245, plus 1 = 1,246. ✓
3. 2.95 units.
Line up the decimal points and pad the gap: 4.75 − 1.80 = 2.95. Writing 1.8 as 1.80 is what stops the mistake.
4. 1,200 photos.
48 × 25. Easiest as 48 × 100 ÷ 4 = 4,800 ÷ 4 = 1,200.
5. 71.5 metres.
3.5 × 24 = 84 m. Then 84 − 12.5 = 71.5 m.