For those who enjoy Mexico and Math

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/agsarw7m32av

Hola, I'm Felipe! I am a third grade student who loves soccer, the beach, and my dog, Paco.

I was born and live on the west coast of the United States in beautiful Santa Monica, California.

Even though I live in the United States, I am a Mexican-American.

My mom and dad are from Monterrey, Mexico and moved to California before I was born. Mexico is the United States neighbor, right under us on a map.

Last year, I visited Mexico for the first time to meet mi familia in Monterrey. I was so excited to learn about my heritage and culture.

In Mexico, instead of dollars like we use in the US, they use pesos for their money.

Hey, quick question: if my dad had 28 pesos, and decided to give even amounts to me and my 3 cousins to buy helado, how many pesos would we each get?

Mexico is an extremely beautiful country with lots to see and do. Because Mexico is so large, there are a variety of climate types and vegetation there.

The mountain regions tend to have mild, cooler temperatures where trees like oaks and pines can grow. Coastal areas, where coconut and olive trees grow, have a warm climate and rainy summers. The northern regions like Monterrey are very dry and hot. Here you can find crops like cactus and yucca.

Since Monterrey is in the northeastern region of Mexico, temperatures there stay very hot. When I visited in the summer, the temperature was 92 degrees Fahrenheit, que calor!

One day, mis primos and I hiked one of Monterrey's most famous landmarks, El Cerro de la Silla. This mountain was huge: 5,970 ft tall!

When we started hiking, the time was 9:15 am. It took us 35 minutes to reach our destination. What time was it when we got there? What if we had gone 12 minutes faster?

My favorite part of my trip to Monterrey was visiting my grandparents house. My grandparents live on a cactus farm where they sell their cacti to markets.

Here is a picture of one of their cactus gardens, which is a rectangular shape. El jardín is 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall. What are the values of the missing side lengths? What is the total perimeter? The area?