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Estimate

How many packets of crisps does a year group eat in a week?

Talk first. There is no single exact answer.

crisps pupils × packets per week

Every Fermi question

74 free estimation questions for UK classrooms, from KS3 to GCSE. Put one card on the screen, let the class talk, then reveal a sensible range. No sign-up. A new question is added every day at 10:00 UK time. More free practice is on the students hub, including today’s Keystones.

  1. How tall is the Eiffel Tower?

    Sensible estimate: About 300 to 350 metres

  2. How many footballs would fill the school hall?

    Sensible estimate: Around 100,000 to 300,000 footballs

  3. How many hours of sleep will you get this year?

    Sensible estimate: About 2,500 to 3,500 hours

  4. How many people could stand in the playground?

    Sensible estimate: About 1,000 to 3,000 people

  5. How many times does your heart beat in a school day?

    Sensible estimate: About 20,000 to 40,000 beats

  6. How many litres of water does this class drink in a week?

    Sensible estimate: About 100 to 250 litres

  7. How many pizza slices would cover the classroom floor?

    Sensible estimate: About 2,000 to 6,000 slices

  8. How many double-decker buses stacked would reach the top of Snowdon?

    Sensible estimate: About 200 to 300 buses

  9. How many seconds have you been alive if you are 14?

    Sensible estimate: About 400 million to 500 million seconds

  10. How many phones stacked would reach the height of a double-decker bus?

    Sensible estimate: About 25 to 40 phones

  11. How many packets of crisps does a year group eat in a week?

    Sensible estimate: About 200 to 1,000 packets

  12. How many times will you blink today?

    Sensible estimate: About 10,000 to 20,000 blinks

  13. How many steps would it take to walk once around the school field?

    Sensible estimate: About 300 to 800 steps

  14. How many books are on the shelves in the school library?

    Sensible estimate: About 3,000 to 15,000 books

  15. How many grains of rice are on a dinner plate?

    Sensible estimate: About 3,000 to 10,000 grains

  16. How long would it take to walk from Land’s End to John o’ Groats?

    Sensible estimate: About 5 to 10 weeks

  17. How many sweets would fill a mug?

    Sensible estimate: About 40 to 100 sweets

  18. How many times does a clock tick in a 60-minute lesson?

    Sensible estimate: About 60 (minute hand) or 3,600 (once a second)

  19. How many football pitches would cover the whole school site?

    Sensible estimate: About 5 to 20 pitches

  20. How many bikes could fit in the school car park?

    Sensible estimate: About 200 to 800 bikes

  21. How many sandwiches stacked would reach the top of the classroom door?

    Sensible estimate: About 80 to 150 sandwiches

  22. How many raindrops would fill a bucket?

    Sensible estimate: About 100,000 to 500,000 raindrops

  23. How many songs could you listen to in a weekend?

    Sensible estimate: About 50 to 200 songs

  24. How many tennis balls would fill a wheelie bin?

    Sensible estimate: About 800 to 1,500 tennis balls

  25. How many times will you write your name this school year?

    Sensible estimate: About 800 to 2,500 times

  26. How many paperclips, end to end, would reach across the classroom?

    Sensible estimate: About 150 to 300 paperclips

  27. How many minutes of maths lessons will you have this school year?

    Sensible estimate: About 6,000 to 12,000 minutes

  28. How many people could sit in the school hall for assembly?

    Sensible estimate: About 250 to 700 people

  29. If you had £1 million in £1 coins, would the pile fit in this classroom?

    Sensible estimate: A stack: no. A heap: yes.

  30. If every pupil in the UK held hands in a line, would it stretch to France? To the Moon?

    Sensible estimate: France: yes. Moon: no.

  31. How many pencils, end to end, would reach the classroom ceiling?

    Sensible estimate: About 12 to 25 pencils

  32. How many tea bags does the staffroom use in a day?

    Sensible estimate: About 40 to 150 tea bags

  33. How many sheets of A4 paper would cover the classroom ceiling?

    Sensible estimate: About 600 to 1,500 sheets

  34. How many days would it take to walk from Manchester to London?

    Sensible estimate: About 8 to 16 days

  35. How many times do you chew in one meal?

    Sensible estimate: About 150 to 800 chews

  36. How many footballs would weigh the same as you?

    Sensible estimate: About 100 to 200 footballs

  37. How many stairs are there from the ground floor to the top of the school?

    Sensible estimate: About 30 to 100 stairs

  38. How many windows are there in the whole school?

    Sensible estimate: About 80 to 400 windows

  39. How many minutes are you in school in one week?

    Sensible estimate: About 1,200 to 2,400 minutes

  40. How many apples would weigh the same as you?

    Sensible estimate: About 250 to 600 apples

  41. How many litres does a dripping tap waste in a day?

    Sensible estimate: About 2 to 10 litres

  42. How many exercise books stacked would reach your height?

    Sensible estimate: About 120 to 220 books

  43. How many people live in the UK?

    Sensible estimate: About 60 to 75 million

  44. How many slices of bread does a family eat in a week?

    Sensible estimate: About 50 to 200 slices

  45. How long would it take to count to one million, one number a second?

    Sensible estimate: About 10 days to 3 weeks

  46. How many desks are there in the whole school?

    Sensible estimate: About 400 to 1,200 desks

  47. How many litres of air do you breathe in a one-hour lesson?

    Sensible estimate: About 300 to 700 litres

  48. How many 1p coins stacked would reach the top of your desk?

    Sensible estimate: About 350 to 700 coins

  49. How many school buses would it take to move the whole school?

    Sensible estimate: About 8 to 30 buses

  50. How many times does a school bell ring in a school year?

    Sensible estimate: Around 800 to 1500 times

  51. How many times does a tap drip in one day?

    Sensible estimate: Around 80,000 to 90,000 drips

  52. How many taps are there in the whole school?

    Sensible estimate: 20 to 60 taps

  53. How many times does a school toilet flush in a day?

    Sensible estimate: Between 1000 and 3000 flushes per day

  54. How many steps do you take walking to school?

    Sensible estimate: About 500 to 3,000 steps

  55. How many times does your heart beat in a whole day?

    Sensible estimate: About 100,000 to 150,000 times

  56. How many litres of milk does the school kitchen use in a week?

    Sensible estimate: About 50 to 300 litres

  57. How many bricks are in one outside wall of the school?

    Sensible estimate: About 2,000 to 8,000 bricks

  58. How many words will you read in English this week?

    Sensible estimate: About 3,000 to 15,000 words

  59. How many litres of air do you breathe in a school day?

    Sensible estimate: About 3,000 to 6,000 litres in a school day.

  60. How many times does your heart beat in a year?

    Sensible estimate: About 30 to 50 million times

  61. How many footballs would fit along the white line of a pitch?

    Sensible estimate: About 400 to 550 footballs

  62. How many pieces of toast would cover the dinner table?

    Sensible estimate: About 80 to 250 slices

  63. How many litres of water does a school toilet flush use in a day?

    Sensible estimate: About 2,000 to 10,000 litres per day.

  64. How many pupils in this school could hold hands around the building?

    Sensible estimate: About 80 to 250 pupils

  65. How many breaths do you take in a maths lesson?

    Sensible estimate: About 600 to 1,200 breaths

  66. How many times does a tap drip in a school day?

    Sensible estimate: Between 1,000 and 10,000 drips

  67. How many times does your heart beat in a 60-minute lesson?

    Sensible estimate: Between 3,000 and 6,000 beats, depending on how active or relaxed you are.

  68. How many times will a school bell ring in a school year?

    Sensible estimate: Between 1,000 and 2,000 times

  69. How many times does a school bell ring in one school year?

    Sensible estimate: Between 1,000 and 2,000 times.

  70. How many times will you breathe during one school day?

    Sensible estimate: About 5,000 to 10,000 breaths in a school day.

  71. How many times will you wash your hands this school year?

    Sensible estimate: About 1,000 to 1,500 times in a school year

  72. How many times does your heart beat in a whole year?

    Sensible estimate: About 30 million to 50 million times a year

  73. How many times will you turn on a tap in one week?

    Sensible estimate: About 50 to 100 times a week

  74. How many times will you turn on a tap in one year?

    Sensible estimate: About 2,000 to 6,000 times a year