Ruffled Feathers and Spilled Milk

Farming with ducks and dairy goats, chickens and children.

End of Grade Test

Posted on | June 8, 2009 | No Comments

Word Problem.
(Involves Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Environmental
Studies, Social Situations, and Mathematical Analysis)
You own a small free range duck farm. You have not completed permanent
housing for the flock.  Breeding and hatching season has arrived.
Resolve the following scenarios:

1.  5 ducklings hatched out in an incubator. YOU are their mother.
Ducklings cannot be placed outside without a mother duck until
temperatures never drop below 50 degrees. They are, therefore, under
your dining room table.  When can the NC Piedmont region expect
temperature consistently above 50 degrees?  Will the ducklings be placed
outside before YOU are forced to clean their nasty bedding 3 times a
day or begin living only in the upstairs part of your home to avoid the
stench?

2.  One mother duck has hatched 12 ducklings and must be moved with
her brood out from under the deck stairs.  During the move, one
duckling hides under the stairs in a 4 inch high space. What is the
likelihood that there is a black widow spider living in that space?  You
have 3 seconds to answer before your 5 year old child reaches in to pull
the duckling out.  1…2…

3.  One mother duck is sitting on a nest in front of the driveway.
There are only 7 days until the ducklings hatch.  She has fewer eggs each
day for 3 days.  You find 1 egg crushed in the front yard.  You find 1
egg that looks like it has been pecked open.  Knowing that eggs are
eaten by hawks, snakes, raccoons and opossums, which is the most likely
predator?  Explain the circle of life and prey/predator relationship in
terms a 3 year old and 2 year old can understand when they are
distressed about finding half-eaten eggs/ducklings in the front yard.

4.  Compare and contrast a nice warm home with a yard mowed by the
homeowners’ association and a community pool versus a house on 4 acres
crawling with ravenous wildlife, ticks, and weeds that grow  2 inches a
day during the warm season.

5.  One duck has started looking for a nest in the backyard where 3
large dogs reside.  How many days can she search the area before she is
discovered and attacked by the dogs?  According to the Newton’s
Probability of Worst Case Scenario, is this likely to happen while the
kids are swinging peacefully in the back yard?  Or will you find a
mutilated duck in the morning when you head out the door with the kids
to meet the school bus.  Explain the circle of life and prey/predator
relationship in terms a 5 year old and 7 year old can understand because
they are distressed about finding a half-eaten duck in the front yard.  Do
NOT simply copy your answer from question 3.  Older children ask tougher
questions.  Prepare an answer for “Why would God let this happen?”

6.  One duck successfully hid and hatched 2 broods last summer.  This
year she has started laying eggs in a small depression in the ground in
plain view.  Does this signify brain damage or a protest at the lack of

proper housing?  Can motherhood cause brain damage?  Must use scientific examples– can NOT use what someone said on Dr. Phil this morning.  If it is a protest did she get the idea from those annoying cows in “Click, Clack, MOO”?

6.  Construct  housing for all of the ducks in questions l-5.  You may
only use materials laying around the property and in the shed.  You may
not saw, nail, or screw any of the pieces together.  All housing must be
weather and predator proof with access to a natural area for foraging
and resting.  Complete this in the time period of one Disney movie and
one episode of Dragon Tales (which is entertaining your children while you work).  Do not give up,  IT CAN BE DONE!

Bonus Question for Extra Credit:
While you are constructing the housing, your potty training 2 year poops in his underwear and your 4 year old gashes his head open on a Transformer
while jumping from couch to chair.  The dog gets into the trash,
including spilling out the coffee grounds from this morning.  It is only
10:38am.  Will you make it until bedtime at 7:30pm without drugs or alcohol?

© Stevie Taylor 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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