Enrichment Questions & Answers
from Lunar Cars and Magic Words
1- QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE BOOK
For all readers:
a) At the start of chapter three, Albert makes “a final tweak” to the car. Can you see what he changed by comparing how the car looks at the start of chapter one with how it looks at the end of chapter three? How do you imagine this change would improve the car?
b) Look at the set of flowers pictured in the information on “Set Theory” at the end of the book. Each kind of flower is an element of the set. List all possible combinations of two elements of that set. This is similar to what Albert did in the book. And note that the order doesn’t matter; so “tulip & lily” is the same as “lily & tulip.”
For readers in late elementary school or older:
c) The set of all even numbers has so many elements you cannot list them all. Another way of saying this is that the set has an infinite number of elements. “Infinite” essentially means “endless in space, number or size.” Can you name three other sets with an infinite number of elements?
d) In the story, Cosmo had a clever idea for figuring out the magic words to get home. Explain what was new about his idea.
2- ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
a) Unscramble these words. Hint: They are all key words in the story Lunar Cars and Magic Words.
nivneitno
nnegieregni
aterh
rertasc
wlo
nomo
ralun
b) At the end of the “Lunar Cars & Magic Words” story, Albert starts making lunar cars that are all designed a little differently. There is a picture of two of them driving around on the moon. How are these two vehicles different, and which one would you rather own?
c) At the back of the book, there is a picture and some information about owls. Imagine that you lived hundreds of years ago, and very little was known about owls. In addition, you couldn’t easily look up any information on them. What do you think your impression of owls would be—-just based on how they look?
d) Set theory is a branch of Mathematics that plays a role in the story. A set is just a collection of things. Would you like to learn more about this? If so, you can watch the author explain that here: youtube.com/shorts/ymsC_qobYRQ, and you can read these questions and answers:
Q: What do we call the things in a set?
A: We call each one an "element" of the set.
Q: What kind of things can be in a set?
A: Anything can be an element of a set. You can have a set of flowers, or a set of breakfast foods, or a set of "school rules," etc.
Q: What is the difference between "combinations" and "permutations" in set theory?
A: A combination is just a list of some elements from a set. The order in which you list them doesn’t matter. But permutations refer to how those elements are ordered. For example, suppose you have the set of people on a baseball team. You can list a group of them that play in the outfield. That would simply be a combination of players from the team. But if you list the first five players by their batting order, you have a group of people from the team where the order DOES matter. That would be a specific permutation of the players who are listed.
Here is another example: suppose you have a set of four one-digit numbers. Those numbers might be 5, 9, 3 and 6. It’s a group in which the order doesn’t matter. But if you need the numbers that make a combination lock work, you have to know not only what numbers to punch to open the lock, but you also must know what order to punch them in. The numbers in order that opens the lock is a specific “permutation” of the digits. These ideas are basic to the field of set theory.
3- PRINTABLE MAZE & WORD SEARCH PUZZLES
To see these puzzles, download the PDF below.
4- ALL THE ANSWERS
Answers to questions from the end of the book:
a) The tall pole on Albert’s right side, with a circular looking shape at the top is in a different location on the two pictures. This might have been changed for stability, for a better appearance, or for some other reason!
b) There are six different "two-element combinations.” They are: rose and tulip, rose and daisy, rose and lily, tulip and daisy, tulip and lily, and daisy and lily.
c) Here are some other sets with an infinite number of elements. Any of these are a correct answer to the question:
the set of all odd numbers
the set of all numbers (evenly) divisible by 3
the set of all numbers that end with the digit 4
the set of all numbers that end with the digit 5
the set of all fractions with the denominator of 6
There are many, many more possible answers! Actually, the number of other possible answers is itself infinite!
d) Cosmo had the idea of using the “negation” of one of the elements. That is, instead of saying pancakes and syrup, he said pancakes and “no syrup.” Stating a food item in the negative opened up many more possible combinations for the magic words.
Answers to the additional questions and puzzles:
a) The words are:
invention
engineering
earth
craters
owl
moon
lunar
b) The cars are a little structurally different. The star-like object at the front end of one vehicle is half way toward the back of the car in another. Also the tall stick in the back that looks like an antenna is different. In one car there are two of them and in the other there is only one. The vehicle with three people in it is larger. Also, there is one item, a stick with a box on top, that is on the bigger car and not on the other car at all. As far as what someone would rather own, a larger vehicle might be more convenient for a family with more people. Or someone might just have a personal preference for a certain design.
c) It is understandable that someone with no way to learn about the characteristics of owls might believe they are wise. Their stare is intense—and it gives the impression of serious thought or wisdom. It’s not surprising that long ago, that is what people thought about owls.
For Answers To Printable Maze & Word Search, click on the Puzzle Answer Key below.