Frederick Fifth-graders Stump D46 Board With Math Problem

Are you smarter than a Frederick School fifth-grader taking advanced math?

D46 school board members were challenged to solve the following problem in five minutes at the Jan. 18 board meeting:

Eric and Jodi together have 192 marbles. If Jodi gives Eric 50 of her marbles, then Eric will have three times as many as Jodi.

How many marbles did Jodi start with? The answer is 98.

Frederick fifth-graders including Alex Cramer, Coby Moe, Lizzie Pauley, Mischa Rodell and Ashley Suh, each took turns explaining to the school board how they used the "Guess and Question" method in their advanced math class to solve brain twisters like this.

The students are also participants in the Continental Math League, which holds meets for students across the country. Frederick students involved in the league gather once a month to practice difficult math problems with the goal of solving six in a half-hour.

Cramer didn't lose his marbles when he solved Eric and Jodi's math problem.

"I used algebra," he said.

Other students used the guess method by picking a reasonable number then breaking the problem down from that point.

"I knew both had to have an amount near 100," said Rodell.

Frederick School Principal Eric Detweiler said advanced math classes continue to challenge students who exceed their own grade level expectations. These fifth-graders are actually studying sixth-grade math.