Smarties for Smarties Lab
Each partner needs to write and hand in their own piece of notebook paper.
On a separate piece of paper, write your FIRST and LAST NAME, DATE, and PERIOD in the upper right corner.
Underneath where you wrote your period, write “Partner:_________” and your partner’s FIRST and LAST NAME.
Title your paper “Smarties Lab.”
For each number you should have something written on your paper. Don’t forget units!!!
Objective: In order to practice problem solving skills and converting units in a fun way, we are going to
mathematically calculate how many Smarties we would need to stack to make a tower that reached the moon.
Materials: 1 pack of Smarties per person, a ruler, and a calculator
Warm Up Problem: If approximately 100,000,000 lb of Smarties are manufactured each year, how many
individual Smarties are made each year? Let’s assume 10 Smarties weigh 10 grams.
1. First, calculate how many grams are in one Smarty. (Hint: read the last sentence of the Warm-Up
Problem.)
So 1 Smarty = ________ . (2 pts: #, unit)
2. Then convert the weight of Smarties made each year to g. (1 lb = 453.6 g) Refer to yesterday’s notes if
you need to. Note: your answer may be in scientific notation. If so, make sure to write in proper
scientific notation. (3 pts: showing work, #, unit)
3. Now that the weight of 1 Smarty and the weight of Smarties made each year have the same unit, you can
solve the problem. (3 pts: show what final math step you did, final # answer, unit)
Big Problem: The moon is 238,857 miles away from Earth. How many Smarties would you need to make a
tower of Smarties that reached to the moon?
4. Stack 10 Smarties on top of one another, making a tower-like structure. Using the ruler, measure the
height of the stack of candy in centimeters. So 10 Smarties = _____________. (2 pts: #, unit)
5. Using your measurement from #4, mathematically calculate the height of one Smarty.
So 1 Smarty = _________. (3 pts: show what math step you did, #, unit)
6. Next convert the length of one Smarty (your #5 answer) into meters. (100 cm = 1 m)
(3 pts: showing work, #, unit)
7. Then convert the distance to the moon to meters. (1 mi = 5280 ft, 1 m = 3.28 ft) (Hint: read the Big
Problem to find the distance to the moon in miles.) Note: your answer may or may not be in scientific
notation depending on the type of calculator you use. Write what your calculator says, using proper
scientific notation if necessary. ( 3 pts: showing work, #, unit)
8. Finally, now that you have the height of one Smarty and the distance to the moon in the same units, you
can solve this problem. (3 pts: show what final math step you did, final # answer, unit)
CLASS COPY, DO NOT WRITE ON THIS