Chess Doubling

Chess Doubling Answer

16th square: 32768 grains of rice!

Guess the Weight

Frosty the Cat weights 4.8kg and it my pleasure to announce that, for the third time, the closest estimate was submitted by Sachin from England. Sachin's estimate of 5kg was one of many accurate estimates and I'm hoping that everyone who was participated in the challenges over the last two months has both enjoyed it and become that little bit better at this crucial life skill.

While the Estimation series has finished (for now), there are lots more challenges to tackle. Visit the Zonga Challenge page and see which tickles your fancy.

Zonga Challenge

What's the Time?

Considering I thought this one was the hardest yet, I'm very impressed at the answers received. In researching this challenge, I learned that, in some parts of the world, the sun never goes directly above you. This picture is proof of that as it was taken just past midday - 12:05 pm to be exact. One would think that the shadow would be almost non-existent, but that is not the case.

Anyway, the most accurate entry this week was by Vincent, in Switzerland, with an almost bang-on estimate of 12:00 pm midday. Awesome job Vincent - maybe you already knew my pearl of wisdom above...

The next Estimation Challenge will be the last in the series, so have a go and maybe see your name in lights as a result... Good luck

This Week's Estimation Challenge

How Many Cards?

Wow! This week the estimates were so close. The actual number of cards in the pack was...

... 159!

And the closest estimate was a very accurate 165 cards by Isaiah, in Switzerland. At just 6 cards out, that is one of the most accurate estimates we have had in any of our challenges so far. Awesome job Isaiah.

Also, I hope Isaiah doesn't mind me saying that this is the fifth Dr Zonga Estimation Challenge he has participated in. Not only, therefore, am I very happy that he can add his name to our list of winners, but also I hope it inspires others to keep playing, keep practising and keep improving their estimation skills. On that note, how about trying this week's challenge?

This week's estimation challenge

How Much Wool?

OK, so you found this one difficult. The actual answer was an amazing...

... 603 metres of wool was used to make this blanket (so far)!

We had so many answers, but none very close :-)

The winner though, with a very respectable 364 metres, was Ben from Switzerland! Congratulations Ben - your name has been added to the growing list of Dr Zonga followers who are improving their estimation skills through our weekly challenge.

This challenge really highlighted the difficulty of estimating without having personal experience, or some other information source to fall-back on. This week's challenge is different though - certainly many children in my class regularly play cards use cards to perform magic tricks. Good luck everybody. I wonder if someone might even get it bang-on correct!

This week's estimation challenge

Chocolate Egg Challenge

The total number of yummy chocolate eggs in this vase is....

And the closest estimate of 80 was made by Jazmin in Switzerland. Congratulations Jazmin - your estimate was super close, and your name is now on the Dr Zonga site two times...!

Well done also to everybody who submitted an estimate. Improving estimation skills helps us check/triangulate answers in life (and at school...). Try this week's estimation challenge - the hardest one yet I believe...

This week's estimation challenge

Water Estimation - Answer

The three vessels held water as follows:

Tea Pot: 0.805 l

Vase: 1.490 l

Mug: 0.245 l

Total: 2.540 l

And the closest estimate of 2.8 l was made by ..... Sachin in the UK.

Sachin was already our estimation challenge so now we have a two-times winner. Congratulations Sachin! Can anyone beat him?

Improving estimation skills helps us check/triangulate answers in life (and at school...). Try this week's estimation challenge - and stop Sachin being a triple crown winner... Good luck!

This week's estimation challenge

Fruit Face - Answer

As you can see from the photo:

Cementines: 0.402 kg

Bananas: 0.654 kg

Rhubarb: 0.668 kg

Total: 1.724 kg

And the closest estimate of 1.8 kg was made by .....

Sachin in the UK. Congratulations Sachin!

Improving estimation skills helps us check/triangulate answers in life (and at school...). Try this week's estimation challenge - and try to get closer than Sachin :-)

This week's estimation challenge