Difficulty: Rating: GCSE Marks:

GCSE Text:
A volunteer team is processing donated shoeboxes which will be given to children in Eastern Europe who would otherwise have nothing at Christmas. Boxes have been collected from Schools, Churches and community groups in the area. The first collection had 242 boxes, the second had 409 and the third had 413 shoeboxes.

a) What is the total number of shoeboxes that the team will process just in our region?

The team checks, sorts and seals an average of 200 shoeboxes each evening.

b) How many evenings will it take to complete the processing of all these shoeboxes?

Suggestions:
This is a great video to start lessons or discussions on living a balanced life with a social and moral responsibility as well. Students often find it fascinating to consider Christmas for those affected by poverty and war, and many healthy discussions often follow this video. Normally students solve this in only 2-3 minutes without a calculator.

Extension Ideas:
Teachers could extend the learning by considering:

• Brown shipping cartons contain 9 shoeboxes. Out of the collected shoeboxes, 150 were for a family, and the rest were for an individual child. How many brown shipping cartons will be needed for the family shoeboxes, and how many cartons will be needed for the individual shoeboxes?
• There are 27 processing teams around the country. Can you give an estimate for the total number of shoe boxes that will be sent from the UK with Teams4U this year.