Samuel Ogle Elementary School

Elementary

Intermediate
 

 

Stop #1
Make enough measurements to make a scale drawing of the dinosaur. Look at the ribcage on this dinosaur skeleton.  How could you estimate the volume of this space?
 

 

Stop #2
If someone crossed 5 rungs of the horizontal ladder, what fraction of the ladder did they cross? What is the smallest number of measurements you would have to make to find the total length of pipe used to build the horizontal ladder?   Make those measurements and find the length of pipe.
 

 

Stop #3
Which of these shapes can you see?

triangle, square, regular pentagon, trapezoid, rhombus, regular hexagon

 

 How could you make a good estimate of the total surface area of this shape?  Do that.

Suppose you wanted to paint all of the pieces of pipe, so that no two adjacent pieces were the same color.  How many colors of paint would you need?

 
 

 

Stop #4
Measure all of the inside angles on this shape, including the angles between the shape and the ground (5 angles).  What do they add up to?  

 

Try this with two other pentagons that you draw.  What do you notice?

 Find the ratio of the height of this structure to its width at the widest point.  Then find something else on the playground with two measurements that have the same ratio.

 
 

 

Stop #5
What fraction of second grade students can walk under this structure without bending their heads?  Third grade students? Fourth grade students?  What is the pattern of your answers? How would you find out if this is a  semicircle?  Do that.
 

 

Stop #6
Is there a way to find out how many bricks "long" this building is, without counting every brick?  Do it. What percent of this wall is taken up by window space?

 
 

 

Stop #7
How could you find out if the bars along the back at the top are exactly parallel?  Do it. Figure out roughly how heavy this seating structure is.  (You may need to find some information on the internet regarding the weight of wood and of iron pipe.)
 

 

Stop #8
If glass costs $3.00 per square foot, how much did it cost to buy the glass that fits in the spaces around these two doors? Suppose 100 students can get through these two doors in one minute when the bell rings.   If you added a third door of the same size into the building, how fast could 200 students get through it?
 

 

Stop #9
Suppose that, on the license plates of these cars, there are a total of 200 digits.  How many 1's do you think there would be?  Why?  What ratio is this?

Now count the actual number of digits and the actual number of 1's.  Did you get the ratio that you expected?

 

 

 If a license plate has three digits and three letters on it, how many different license plate numbers could you have?
 

 

Stop #10
Find out if the plants make the air near them any cooler: 

1) Measure the temperature of the air very close to one of the big plants.

2) Measure the temperature of the air out in the open space between the plants.

3) Repeat this several times.

4) Find the average and range for both sets of temperature measurements.

 Estimate the total area of leaves on one of these plants.
 

 

Stop #11
Measure the circumference and diameter, and find the ratio of those two numbers.

Now measure the circumference and diameter of a coffee can, and find the ratio. 

Do this again for a can of another size.

What is the pattern?

 

 If you filled this cylinder with water, how many pounds of water would be in it?

If you used the same amount of metal to make a square shape instead of a round one, would the area it covered be more or less than the area that this shape covers?
 

 

Stop #12
There are many shapes on this sign.  Which ones are symmetric? Could you take one of the three small inside rectangles in this sign, turn it sideways, and scale it up so it exactly covers the big rectangle? 
 

 

Stop #14
Let a ball roll down the ramp all the way from the top to the bottom, and measure its speed by finding out how many centimeters it travels in three seconds. Do this three times and find the average.

Repeat the experiment, but this time have the ball start half way down the ramp. 

What was the result? Is it what you expected?

 

 If this ramp had the same slope but was 100 feet long, how high would it be at the end?
 

 

Stop #15

Measure the diameters of the three circles, and compute  the areas.  Use your data to answer this question: if the diameter of one circle is twice as big as another one, how will the areas compare?