standard_description: Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
problem_activity: Activity
The purpose of this activity is to understand that discrete values in a table can be used as evidence that a relationship is proportional and can be used to know for sure that a relationship is not proportional, but can’t be used to know for sure whether a relationship is definitely proportional. This activity builds on previous ones involving constant speed, but analyzes pace (minutes per lap) rather than speed (laps per minute). Explaining why the information given in the table is enough to conclude that Han didn't run at a constant pace but is not enough to know for sure whether Clare ran at a constant pace requires students to make a viable argument (MP3).
Launch
Keep students in the same groups of 2. Give 5 minutes of quiet work time, followed by 5 minutes of students discussing responses with a partner, followed by a whole-class discussion.
Conversing, Reading: MLR5 Co-Craft Questions.
Use this routine to help students interpret the language of proportional relationships, and to increase awareness of language used to talk about proportional relationships. Display the first sentence of this problem (“Han and Clare were running laps around the track. The coach recorded their times at the end of laps 2, 4, 6, and 8.”) and the tables of Han and Clare’s run, and ask students to write down possible mathematical questions that could be asked about the situation. If needed, provide students with the question starter “Why is. . .?” Invite students to share their questions with the class before revealing the task questions. Listen for and amplify any questions involving proportional relationships or mathematical language, such as “constant pace,” “not constant,” “proportional,” or “constant of proportionality.” This will help students produce the language of mathematical questions and start noticing whether or not there is a proportional relationship in this task prior to starting the task.
Design Principle(s): Maximize meta-awareness; Support sense-making
Student Facing
Han and Clare were running laps around the track. The coach recorded their times at the end of laps 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Han's run:
{"table": [{"_attributes": {"border": "1"}, "thead": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "distance (laps)"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "time (minutes)"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "minutes per lap"}]}]}], "tbody": [{"tr": [{"td": [{"_value": "2"}, {"_value": "4"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "4"}, {"_value": "9"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "6"}, {"_value": "15"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "8"}, {"_value": "23"}, {}]}]}]}]}
Clare's run:
{"table": [{"_attributes": {"border": "1"}, "thead": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "distance (laps)"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "time (minutes)"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "minutes per lap"}]}]}], "tbody": [{"tr": [{"td": [{"_value": "2"}, {"_value": "5"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "4"}, {"_value": "10"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "6"}, {"_value": "15"}, {}]}, {"td": [{"_value": "8"}, {"_value": "20"}, {}]}]}]}]}
Is Han running at a constant pace? Is Clare? How do you know?
Write an equation for the relationship between distance and time for anyone who is running at a constant pace.
Student Response
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Anticipated Misconceptions
Students are likely to answer that Clare is running at a constant pace because the minutes per lap shown in the table are the same for each lap. Because we only have four data points in a table, spaced at 5-minute intervals, Clare could still be speeding up and slowing down between the recorded times. However, given the data, it is reasonable to assume Clare is running at a constant pace for the purpose of estimating times or distances.
Activity Synthesis
Invite students to explain why they think each person is or is not running at a constant pace. Point out to students that although the data points in the table for Clare are pairs in a proportional relationship, these four pairs of values do not guarantee that Clare ran at a constant pace. She might have, but we don't know if she was running at a constant pace between the times that the coach recorded.
Ask the following questions:
"Can you represent either relationship with an equation?" (The answer for Han is “no” and the answer for Clare is “yes, if she really ran at a constant pace between the points in time when the times were recorded.” Write the equation for Clare together:
\(t = 2.5 d\)
.)
“Are the pairs of values in the table for Clare's run still values from a proportional relationship if we calculate laps per minute instead of minutes per lap? How does that change the equation?” (Yes,
\(d = 0.4 t\)
.)


aligns: yes