Ridge Road Elementary

Math Trail

Ridge Road Elementary School is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year. It is one of 4 elementary schools in the Horseheads Central School District. On the web site for the district, is the district’s mission statement: “The Mission of the Horseheads Central School District is to provide a quality education for all within a nurturing environment which promotes excellence, growth, and a sense of civic responsibility”. This is evident in the Ridge Road building. The technology alone that is available and widely used in the building is top notch. The students also participate in a character education program. Currently, one of the fourth grade classes has organized a drive for our soldiers over seas.

Developing a math trail with a 4^th grade class in this school was thrilling. Because I am not a permanent teacher in the district, I could not take the students out of the building. The students discussed in what ways their school and classroom is a community. They were instructed to develop math problems within their school community. I was not able to spend much time with the students, which reflects their questions that are simple in nature. The answers were provided to the students at the completion of the math trail. The questions used are as follows:

Ridge Road Elementary School

1. How many cinderblocks are in the classroom? If each classroom in the building has the same number of cinderblocks, how many cinderblocks are there in all?

2. How long is the school hallway (that our room is in) in meters?

3. How many books are in the school library?

4. How long is it from the classroom to the music room in meters?

Answer Key

Classroom hallway in meters: about 76.5 meters.  The most efficient group measured the length of one tile, counted the total number of tiles, and multiplied.  Other groups tried using a meter stick, which was too time consuming.

Classroom to music room in meters: about 81 meters. The most efficient group counted the tiles from the end of the hallway to the music room, multiplied by the length of one tile, and then added that to the amount from the previous problem.  The other groups continued in the same way they had been using to solve the problem.

Books in the library: 7667.  This is not the number any of the groups got, but the closest group had 9646 books.  This group counted magazines in their total.  They came up with their answer by counting the number of books on one shelf, counting the total number of shelves, and then multiply.  (I got the total number by asking the librarian).

Total number of cinderblocks in the classrooms: 21,360. All the groups solved this one the same way.  They all realized they could not go into each classroom in the building and count the number of cinderblocks.  They chose to count the number of cinderblocks in their classroom (by estimating), then count the total number of classrooms, and finally multiply.