3 act Task: Taco Cart

Grade 9s have been working on learning the pythagorean theorem. We’ve had a look at this video:

We know that the sum of the squares of the perpendicular sides of the right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. We then used that knowledge to help us with the 3 act task:

For 3 act tasks, students are working at the walls in random groups of 3 with one marker between them. They start by making a “notice and wonder” table where they list the things they notice and wonder while watching the act 1 video clip.

Next students try to determine who gets to the taco cart first. To do so they need more information which is withheld until they ask for it. Students will need the dimensions of the pathways, and also the speed that they walk in the sand and on the road.

Here are the images to help fill in the details, and for Act 2 the students work together to solve the problem.

Students worked together to solve and show their work

Extensions I asked were: what’s the time that it takes in minutes? How far ahead was one compared to the other?

For Act 3 we had a look at the features of the various student solutions. The use of a clear diagram, and showing calculations and explaining a bit about how to think through the rates of ft/s and how that affects the answers, and then how to convert to minutes. We then watched the 3rd video and saw how close we came.

Students are getting really good at working together. We have been practicing all term and it is great to see progress and increased confidence.