The slug decided to take a break. He’d been working hard in the garden and was sick of the sight of the rake. He bought a ticket for a cheap away day and looked forward to a restful holiday. He packed his bags and a packed lunch, too. They boarded at platform twenty two. He almost got trod on by the passengers’ feet (He hoped the seagulls in the station had had enough to eat). He hid beneath a suitcase on the rack. As the train took off, he almost fell off a rucksack. Very soon, the train was going strong, the slug in the chug liked gliding along. They passed mountains, rivers and brooks, reading directions, the slug almost got squashed in the pages of a map book. The only thing that the slug didn’t much like on his trek, was having no cabbage leaves or strawberries to peck. He did try a very soggy railway bun, but the lettuce was slimy and the bacon overdone.
Maths On The Slug’s Day Trip
1. If took the slug took 1.2 hours to cross one carriage, how long did it take him to crawl along the whole train, with 12 carriages ? When the slug was feeling sluggish, the journey took him three times as long. How long is that per carriage and the whole train ?
2. The slug ate 20% of a railway sandwich measuring 10 cm long x 8 cm wide. How much was left ?
3. The slug was so slimy that he slipped 70% of the way along one carriage. If the carriage measured 15 m long, how much further did he have to crawl ? Give your answer in cm and m.
4. The slug climbed over 60% of the 200 bags in the baggage rack. How many is that ?
5. If it took the slug 3 hours to crawl along the first four carriages and five hours to crawl along the second eight carriages, how long, on average did it take him to crawl along one carriage ?
6. The chug that carried the slug crossed one bridge every 7 km. If the journey was 770 km, how many bridges did they pass ?
7. There were 50 lettuces in the train canteen and each lettuce had 12 leaves. The slug ate 0.05.
a) How many lettuces were there in total ?
b) What percentage did the slug eat ? c) How many were left ?
8. The slug noticed that in every carriage there were 60 seats. There were only 40 passengers. He only managed to crawl over 3%. Each seat was 80 cm wide.
a) How many did he crawl over ?
b) How many did he not crawl over ?
c) What percentage of the seats were taken ?
d) What decimal of the seats were not taken ?
e) How far did he actually crawl ?
9. The 8 cm high burger bun that the slug tried to eat was four times bigger than him. Therefore, how tall was the slug ?
10. Using the formula for calculating the surface area of a circle, work out the surface area of one lettuce leaf that measured 15 cm across the middle. Then work out the surface area of the part eaten by the slug (2 / 5 ths).
© Jacqueline Richards 2007
Answers :
1. a) 1.2 x 12 = 14.4 hours b) 3.6 hour per carriage c) 3.6 x 12 = 43.2 hours
2. 80% = 10 x 8 / 100 x 80 = 64 sq cm
3. 15 x 100 / 100 x 30 = 450 cm = 0.45 m
4. 120
5. (3 x 4) + (5 x 
/ 12 = 12 + 45 / 12 = 57 / 12 = 4.75 hours
6. 770 / 7 = 1107. a) 50 x 12 = 600 b) 5% c) 600 – (6 x 5 = 30) = 570 8. a) 60 / 100 x 3 = 1.8 b) 58.2 c) 40 / 60 = 2 / 3 rds d) 1 / 3 = 0.33 e) 80 + (80 / 10 x 8 = 64) = 144 cm9. 8 / 4 = 2 cm
10. a) 3.14 x 7.5 x 7.5 = 176.625 sq cm b) 176.625 / 100 x 40 = 70.65 sq cm
