8th Grade Task: Speed Limit

8th Grade Task: Speed Limit

Standards & Objectives

Essential and guiding questions: 
  • Is it necessary to use the same units of measure in comparing the speeds Kana traveled on her way home? Why or why not?
  • How did you determine if the speed was 100 mph or over?
  • What is the relationship between the speed at which Kana traveled and the slopes of the graphs?

Activity/Task Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding
Differentiation suggestions: 

If students can’t get started…. 

  • You might ask them to think about a simpler problem such as how can you compare the value of 20 cents to 1 dollar and 75 cents to 100 pennies?
  • Would one penny be the same as 1 dollar? How could you use a fraction to describe the differences in the use of the “ones” in this comparison?

In an advancing question….

  • How could the fractional value help to find the slope of the equation when modeling the different speeds Kana may be driving?
Extension suggestions: 

If students finish early…. 

  • Ask the students to graph hours per mile. Then have the students compare and contrast the two graphs.