On your mark, get set, GO! The class sprints toward the conclusions in a race analysis activity. The staggered start of the 400-m foot race is taken apart in detail, and then learners step back and develop some overall race strategy and rules for a general stagger on an Olympic track. Great activity to encourage some higher-level synthesis and thinking on the part of your young mathletes.

Concepts

diameter, circumference, distance

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Investigate and compare the staggered start for the 200-m and 800-m races in addition to the 400-m race
• Compare foot races to larger scale oval-track races like the Indianapolis 500, discussing considerations of scale
• Extend by adding in speed components (ie how much faster a runner would have to run on the outer track if the start was not staggered)

Classroom Considerations

• Part c assumes the class is familiar with the mechanics of distance vs. short runs and the lane rules
• The answer to Runing Around a Track I is given in the first part of this exercise, if these activities are not done in order you may want to white out the answer

Pros

• Scaffolded questions lead the learners to well-thought-out conclusions
• Values interpreted within context, increasing math literacy and intuition
• Real-life application of geometric principles

Cons

• In part a of the answer key, the middle section should read "So the perimeter of the track 20 centimeters from the inside of lane 2 is..." instead of lane 1. Similarly the middle section of part b should ready "So the perimeter 20 centimeters from the inside of lane 3 is ... 7.66 meters larger than the perimeter 20 centimeters from the inside of..." instead of lane 2 and 30 cm
• Student worksheet not clearly separated from teaching notes and answer key

Common Core

HSG-MG.A.1 HSG-MG.A.2 HSG-MG.A.3