This week's POW

HAPPY GROUNDHOG'S DAY!

1. Every year on February 2nd in Punxsutawney, PA, Groundhog Phil is called upon to predict how much more winter there will be. If Phil sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter, but if he does not see his shadow spring is near. In 2006 Phil saw his shadow. If Phil’s shadow was 25 inches long (when he stands on his back legs) at the same time that a 12 foot tree cast a 15 foot shadow, how tall was Phil, in inches, in 2006?


2. Groundhog Phil’s cousin Henry lives in Moundsville with his family. At the beginning of 2006, Moundsville had a population of 2500 groundhogs but by the beginning of 2008 the population had grown to 3025 groundhogs. If the annual percentage of growth was the same in 2006 as it was in 2007, how many groundhogs lived in Moundsville at the beginning of 2007?


3. Groundhog Henry is digging a new tunnel in a flat field outside of his home. He starts by digging 3 ft straight down and then digs north 4 times the distance that he dug down. At this point Henry digs straight west for 17 ft before running into a boulder. Since he doesn’t know how big the boulder is, he backs up 1 ft and digs 3 ft straight up to the surface. How far is the end of Henry’s tunnel from the beginning of Henry’s tunnel?