To practice ratios and proportions, the Math B students went on a mathematical road trip to five other U.S. cities. There were many different parts to this trip from vehicles to hotels to meals.
Step one was selecting cities to visit by drawing the routes, measuring the distances to the nearest 1/4 inch, and then calculating the distances using proportions. They kept track of these numbers in separate tables in their project packets. After they had the data, the students used the scale on the map to write the fractional ratio of distance on the map to the distance in real life.
Next, the students calculated the distance of each leg using the scale from the map by cross multiplying in the proportion. This yielded the real-life distance in miles. After finding the individual distances, they found the total distance.
Once the total miles traveled, the students had to determine which vehicle of six their family should rent. They calculated the average gas mileage of each vehicle and compared which would best suit their road trip based on proportions. Then, they wrote a paragraph describing their choice and how math influenced them.
The next part of this project was deciding how long they would spend in each city. They were told they could travel 800 miles in one day and would have to calculate the number of days they would spend driving from city to city. Proportions were used again to answer this question.
Then, the students had to figure out which hotel to stay in for each night. They created a table showing the nights and money spent at each hotel and calculated the total cost on hotels.
Lastly, the money spent on food was calculated. They were allowed to spend three different amounts of money for their three meals per day. The different types of restaurants (fast food, nice, and fancy), number of meals, cost per meal, and total cost were noted in a data table.
After calculating all the different factors of the road trip, the students added up the cost of fuel, the rental car, the hotel, and the food to get the total cost.
This big project was the perfect way to apply math concepts like ratios and proportions in real-life situations. Along with putting to practical use of these concepts, students got to see what planning a road trip would be like and all of the math that goes into it