Designing a 5K Course

10 min

Teacher Prep
Setup
Students in same groups. Maps of the school grounds. 10 minutes of group work time.
Required Preparation
Prepare maps or printed satellite images of the school grounds, one copy per student.

Narrative

In this activity students return to the context of designing a 5K walk-a-thon that was introduced in an earlier lesson. They use a map or satellite image of the school grounds to decide where the path of the 5K course could be and estimate how many laps it would take to complete 5 kilometers. Ideally, one lap should be about 500 meters because in the next activity, students will use their trundle wheels to measure the course they have designed. Students can use their knowledge of the smaller path they measured to help them design their course (MP7).

If possible, each group chooses their own course to help them take ownership of their work and for a greater variety of solutions. Alternatively, the whole class can come to an agreement on one path in order to streamline the process if time is limited.

Launch

Keep students in the same groups of 3–4 from the previous lesson. Distribute maps or printed satellite images of the school grounds. Give students 10 minutes of group work time.

MLR8 Discussion Supports. During group work, invite students to take turns sharing their responses. Ask students to restate what they heard using precise mathematical language and their own words. Display the sentence frame: “I heard you say . . . .” Original speakers can agree or clarify for their partner.
Advances: Listening, Speaking
Action and Expression: Internalize Executive Functions. To support organization, provide students with a graphic organizer for data collection and organizing information about methods, lengths of estimations, and revisions between the measurements of the course.
Supports accessibility for: Language, Organization

Student Task

Your teacher will give you a map of the school grounds.

  1. On the map, draw in the path you measured earlier with your trundle wheel and label its length.

  2. Invent another route for a walking course and draw it on your map. Estimate the length of the course you drew.

  3. How many laps around your course must someone complete to walk 5 kilometers?

Sample Response

  1. Answers vary.

  2. Sample response: One time around the course is about 500 meters.

    A satellite map of the school grounds is indicated. The 5K course around the oval track is outlined in red and a star is drawn to indicate the start and finish of the race.

  3. Sample response: A person would have to go around the course 10 times to walk 5 kilometers.
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)

Check in with each group to approve their proposed courses. Then have students move on to the next activity. 

Anticipated Misconceptions

If students struggle with estimating the length of their course, consider asking:

  • “How long is the course you measured before?”

  • “How does knowing the length of the earlier course on the map help you estimate the length of your new course?”

Standards
Addressing
  • 7.G.1·Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.
  • 7.G.A.1·Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.
  • 7.RP.A·Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
  • 7.RP.A·Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

30 min