Solving Rate Problems
5 min
Teacher Prep
Setup
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit observations about tall objects and their measurements, which will be useful when students reason about rate problems in a context involving a skyscraper later in the lesson. Although students may notice and wonder many things about the objects in the image, ways to estimate the heights of the tall objects are the important discussion points.
When students articulate what they notice and wonder, they have an opportunity to attend to precision in the language that they use to describe what they see (MP6). They might first propose less formal or imprecise language, and then restate their observation with more precise language in order to communicate more clearly.
Launch
Arrange students in groups of 2. Display the image for all to see. Give students 1 minute of quiet think time, and ask them to be prepared to share at least one thing that they notice and one thing that they wonder about. Give students another minute to discuss their observations and questions with their partner.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There is a person, a tree, and the Statue of Liberty.
- The tree is taller than the statue. The tree and the statue are both much taller than the person.
- The person is tiny compared to the other two objects.
- The pedestal on which the statue sits is about half the height of the entire structure.
Students may wonder:
- What kind of tree is it? Do trees that tall really exist?
- How tall are the tree and the statue?
- How long would it take a tree to grow to that size?
- How was a statue of that size built?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
Ask students to share the things that they noticed and wondered. Record and display their responses for all to see, without editing or commentary. If possible, record the relevant reasoning on or near the image.
Tell students that the image shows the tallest tree in the world, the Hyperion. If questions about the height of the tree do not come up during the conversation, ask students how it could be estimated. Students may suggest referring to different heights in the image to estimate the height of the tree. Those who are familiar with the Statue of Liberty or have an idea of its approximate height might use the base of the pedestal, the statue without the pedestal, or the full statue to estimate the height of the Hyperion. Others may do so using the human figure.
If time permits, ask students to make an estimate for the height of the Hyperion. (The tree measures approximately 380 feet or 116 meters. The Statue of Liberty measures approximately 305 feet or 93 meters from the ground to the torch.) If there is a tall structure in the community that students might be familiar with, consider sharing how its height compares to the Hyperion.
Standards
- 4.MD.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table. <em>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), …</em>
- 4.MD.A.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. <span>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs <span class="math">\((1, 12)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((2, 24)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((3, 36)\)</span>, …</span>
- 5.MD.1·Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
- 5.MD.A.1·Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
15 min
15 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Solving Rate Problems
5 min
Teacher Prep
Setup
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit observations about tall objects and their measurements, which will be useful when students reason about rate problems in a context involving a skyscraper later in the lesson. Although students may notice and wonder many things about the objects in the image, ways to estimate the heights of the tall objects are the important discussion points.
When students articulate what they notice and wonder, they have an opportunity to attend to precision in the language that they use to describe what they see (MP6). They might first propose less formal or imprecise language, and then restate their observation with more precise language in order to communicate more clearly.
Launch
Arrange students in groups of 2. Display the image for all to see. Give students 1 minute of quiet think time, and ask them to be prepared to share at least one thing that they notice and one thing that they wonder about. Give students another minute to discuss their observations and questions with their partner.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There is a person, a tree, and the Statue of Liberty.
- The tree is taller than the statue. The tree and the statue are both much taller than the person.
- The person is tiny compared to the other two objects.
- The pedestal on which the statue sits is about half the height of the entire structure.
Students may wonder:
- What kind of tree is it? Do trees that tall really exist?
- How tall are the tree and the statue?
- How long would it take a tree to grow to that size?
- How was a statue of that size built?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
Ask students to share the things that they noticed and wondered. Record and display their responses for all to see, without editing or commentary. If possible, record the relevant reasoning on or near the image.
Tell students that the image shows the tallest tree in the world, the Hyperion. If questions about the height of the tree do not come up during the conversation, ask students how it could be estimated. Students may suggest referring to different heights in the image to estimate the height of the tree. Those who are familiar with the Statue of Liberty or have an idea of its approximate height might use the base of the pedestal, the statue without the pedestal, or the full statue to estimate the height of the Hyperion. Others may do so using the human figure.
If time permits, ask students to make an estimate for the height of the Hyperion. (The tree measures approximately 380 feet or 116 meters. The Statue of Liberty measures approximately 305 feet or 93 meters from the ground to the torch.) If there is a tall structure in the community that students might be familiar with, consider sharing how its height compares to the Hyperion.
Standards
- 4.MD.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table. <em>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), …</em>
- 4.MD.A.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. <span>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs <span class="math">\((1, 12)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((2, 24)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((3, 36)\)</span>, …</span>
- 5.MD.1·Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
- 5.MD.A.1·Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.