word problem

example of a word problem written by a fifth grade student during math centers:

mrs. a = our new classroom science expert from George Mason that will be working with us all year :)

if mrs. a found 58 germ specimens on her plate and 36 germ specimens in her cup, how many germ specimens can she examine altogether under her microscope?


my response: (long pause) i think if mrs. a found all of those germ specimens on the items from which she eats, she would be veeeery sick!