50 Fun Facts About 1st Grade Math

A spider has eight legs and an ant has six: how many legs do the two animals have altogether?

14 legs is the total, because 8 + 6 = 14. Counting legs is the quickest way to tell the two apart: spiders have eight, while ants and all other insects have six.

A strike in ten-pin bowling knocks down every pin with the first ball: how many pins stay standing?

0 pins are left standing, because 10 − 10 = 0. Bowlers mark a strike with an X on the score sheet, and three strikes in a row is known as a turkey.

A full round of golf is two sets of nine holes, one after the other: how many holes altogether?

18 holes make a full round, because 9 + 9 = 18. The number was settled at St Andrews in Scotland in 1764, when the course there was cut down from 22 holes.

Which six-sided shape do honey bees build again and again to make the wax cells of a honeycomb?

Hexagon cells fit side by side with no gaps between them. Many wasps build the same six-sided pattern, but they make it out of paper instead of wax.

Which US coin is worth ten cents, even though it is the smallest and thinnest coin in circulation?

Dime coins are tiny but mighty: each one is smaller than a penny or a nickel, yet worth more than those two coins put together.

At the Olympic Games, gold goes to first place and silver to second: which place wins bronze?

Third place wins bronze, the last of the three medals. Some sports, such as boxing and judo, hand out two bronze medals in every event.

Which day of the week comes right after Tuesday and is named for the Norse god Odin?

Wednesday began as 'Woden's day', after the Old English name for Odin. In German the same day is simply called Mittwoch, which means mid-week.

A haiku poem has three lines of five, seven and five syllables: how many syllables altogether?

17 syllables is the total, because 5 + 7 + 5 = 17. A traditional Japanese haiku also includes a kigo, a word that hints at the season of the year.

A cricket batter on 99 runs scores one more run: what score, known as a century, is that?

100 runs make a century, a landmark score that cricketers also call a ton. Adding one to 99 is the first time a count needs three digits.

Chopsticks are used in pairs of two equal sticks: how many chopsticks are there in four pairs?

8 chopsticks make four pairs: count by twos to get 2, 4, 6, 8. People have been eating with chopsticks for more than three thousand years.

A common clover has three leaves and a lucky clover has four: how many leaves on one of each?

7 leaves is the total, because 3 + 4 = 7. Lucky clovers are rare: a survey of millions of clovers found only about one four-leaf plant for every 5,000 ordinary ones.

A standard guitar has six strings and a violin has four: how many strings is that altogether?

10 strings is the total, because 6 + 4 = 10. A twelve-string guitar sounds fuller because every one of its six strings has been doubled.

On a piano, each octave has seven white keys and five black keys: how many keys is that in all?

12 keys fill each octave, because 7 + 5 = 12. The same pattern of long and short keys repeats again and again from one end of the keyboard to the other.

A soccer team starts a match with one goalkeeper and ten outfield players: how many players is that?

11 players start for each side, because 10 + 1 = 11. The rules only name the goalkeeper, so a coach may arrange the other ten in any pattern.

A tic-tac-toe grid has three rows with three spaces in each row: how many spaces are there in all?

9 spaces fill the grid, because 3 + 3 + 3 = 9. When both players make their best moves, a game of tic-tac-toe always ends in a draw.

An octopus has eight arms: how many arms do two octopuses have when counted together?

16 arms is the total, because 8 + 8 = 16. Every octopus also has three hearts, one for its body and one for each of its two gills.

A young child grows ten baby teeth along the top and ten along the bottom: how many teeth is that?

20 baby teeth make a full set, because 10 + 10 = 20. The tiny buds that grow into them start forming months before a baby is born.

A dartboard has sections scoring from 1 to 20 points: which score is one less than the highest?

19 is one less than 20. The numbers are scattered around the board to punish poor aim, an idea often credited to an English carpenter in 1896.

Most starfish have five arms: how many arms would you count on three starfish with five arms each?

15 arms is the total: count by fives to get 5, 10, 15. Not every starfish stops at five, though, and some species grow many more arms.

A decade is a period of ten years: how many years are there in four decades?

40 years make four decades: count by tens to get 10, 20, 30, 40. The word decade comes from an Ancient Greek word for a group of ten.

Which number is made of 3 tens and 6 ones, the same as the number of inches in a yard?

36 is 3 tens and 6 ones. A yard is also the same length as 3 feet, and medieval English law measured it against an iron bar kept for the king.

Which number has 6 tens and 4 ones, the same as the number of spaces on a chessboard?

64 is 6 tens and 4 ones. The board has eight rows of eight, a size one medieval book of games called ideal: bigger boards were too tiring and smaller ones too quick.

Which of these numbers is greater than 31, the number of days in the month of December?

34 is greater than 31: both have 3 tens, but 34 has more ones. December takes its name from the Latin word for ten, because it was once the tenth month of the Roman year.

Which number comes just before 30 and is the number of days February has in a leap year?

29 comes just before 30 when counting. February only stretches that far in a leap year, and its extra day at the end is called the leap day.

An hour lasts 60 minutes: how many minutes are there in half an hour?

30 minutes is half of 60, because 30 + 30 = 60. Splitting the hour into 60 parts is an idea handed down from the ancient Sumerians.

A watch's long hand points up at 12 and the short hand points at 3: what time does the watch show?

3 o'clock is the time, because the short hand names the hour. Whenever the long hand points straight up, a brand-new hour is just beginning.

Which month comes right after June and is named in honour of the Roman leader Julius Caesar?

July was named for Julius Caesar by the Roman Senate, because it was the month of his birth. It is the seventh month of the year.

Britain has a 2p coin and a 5p coin: how much money are the two coins worth together?

7p is the total, because 2 + 5 = 7. The 5p coin used to be a good deal bigger, until a smaller version replaced it in 1990.

A dozen eggs is a box of twelve: how many eggs are there in half a dozen?

6 eggs is half of twelve, because 6 + 6 = 12. Twelve is a handy size for a box because it also splits evenly into threes and fours.

A professional basketball game in the NBA is split into quarters: how many equal parts is that?

4 equal parts make up the game, and each quarter in the NBA lasts 12 minutes. American college men's games are split into two halves instead.

Which shape with three straight sides is the frame used to rack up the balls in a game of pool?

Triangle racks hold the balls in rows of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The shape is so tied to the game that players often just call the rack 'the triangle'.

Which solid shape, with six flat faces all the same size, is the traditional die in board games?

Cube dice have dots arranged so that opposite faces always add up to seven: the 1 sits across from the 6, the 2 from the 5 and the 3 from the 4.

Which of these sums makes exactly 10, the number of legs on a crab?

7 + 3 makes 10. Crabs belong to the decapods, an animal group whose name comes from the Greek words for ten and foot.

A baseball game lasts nine innings: after six innings have been played, how many innings are left?

3 innings are left, because 9 − 6 = 3. A game that is still tied after the ninth keeps going with extra innings until one team wins.

The English alphabet has 26 letters, and 5 of them are vowels: how many other letters are there?

21 other letters are left, because 26 − 5 = 21. Two of them, W and Y, are tricky: each can behave like a vowel in some words.

Tally marks come in bundles of four upright lines crossed by one more: how many is each bundle?

5 marks fill each bundle, because 4 + 1 = 5. Bundling them this way makes a long count easy to read, since the groups can be counted in fives.

A baker's dozen is one more than an ordinary dozen of 12: how many loaves is a baker's dozen?

13 is one more than 12. By one account, bakers once gave shopkeepers an extra loaf with every dozen, and selling that loaf was the shopkeeper's profit.

The short hand of a clock goes round all 12 hours twice each day: how many hours are in a day?

24 hours fill a day, because 12 + 12 = 24. Some clocks show them all at once, with a dial numbered up to 24 and a short hand that goes round only once a day.

American bingo uses balls numbered from 1 to 75: which number is ten less than 75?

65 is ten less than 75: the tens digit drops from 7 to 6 and the ones digit stays the same. On a bingo card, the numbers from 61 to 75 always sit in the O column.

Which shape has no corners and no straight sides, like the bright face of a full moon?

Circle is the name for a perfectly round shape. A full moon looks like one because the whole side of the Moon facing Earth is lit up by the Sun.

A week has seven days, and five of them are weekdays: how many days make up the weekend?

2 days make up the weekend, because 7 − 5 = 2. In most of the world those days are Saturday and Sunday, though some countries rest on Friday and Saturday instead.

A chess set holds 32 pieces, 16 for each player: which number is ten more than 32?

42 is ten more than 32: the tens digit climbs from 3 to 4 and the ones digit stays put. Half of all the pieces in a set are pawns, eight for each player.

Of the 50 US states, only Alaska and Hawaii do not touch any others: how many states does that leave?

48 states are left, because 50 − 2 = 48. Americans often call that joined-up block of states the Lower 48, especially when talking about Alaska.

The Olympic flag shows five rings: how many rings would there be on five Olympic flags?

25 rings is the total: count by fives to get 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. The five rings stand for the parts of the world that send athletes to the Games.

A tricycle has three wheels and a bicycle has two: how many more wheels does the tricycle have?

1 more wheel is the difference, because 3 − 2 = 1. The names do the counting for you: 'tri' means three and 'bi' means two.

A clock's long hand points down at 6 and the short hand is halfway between 4 and 5: what time is shown?

Half past 4 is the time, because the long hand has gone halfway round the dial since four. The short hand never jumps: it creeps slowly towards the next number.

Which month opens the year and takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings?

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and of changes. It is one of the long months of the year, running for 31 days.

Which number is the same as 8 tens, and is how many days Phileas Fogg has to travel round the world?

80 is the same as 8 tens. In Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days, Fogg bets £20,000 that he can finish the trip in time.

A soccer match lasts 90 minutes: how many minutes are left after the first 20 have been played?

70 minutes are left, because 9 tens take away 2 tens leaves 7 tens. The match is played in two equal parts, with a break in the middle.

A deck of 52 playing cards often comes with 2 extra jokers: how many cards is that altogether?

54 cards is the total, because 52 + 2 = 54. Packs with a pair of jokers became the norm in the late 1940s, when the game of Canasta called for them.