North Brookfield Elementary School
| Names: | Kaitlyn McGrail and Colleen Ahearn |
| Grades: | 5th and 6th, Advanced Learners Program |
| Description: | We picked this place because it was an important contribution to our town's history and to the underground railroad. We also picked this house because Kaitlyn lives there. |
| Concepts: | Decimals, fractions, measurement, whole number operations. |
| Grade level | 5th and 6th |
| Curriculum Framework Learning Standards | 1) Interpret the multiple uses of numbers by
taking real-world situations and translating them into numerical
statements. 2) Use calculators in appropriate computational situations. 3) Use patterns and relationships to analyze mathematical situations. |
The house on 263 N. Main St. in North Brookfield, Massachusetts was built almost 200 years
ago. It was part of the Underground Railroad when Amasa Walker lived there. He was
an abolitionist who helped the slaves hide and find their way up to Canada where they
would be set free. Nobody knows where in the house any of the slaves where hidden. Nobody
can seem to figure it out. It’s just a mystery!
We picked this place because it was an important contribution to North Brookfield’s history and it’s involvement with the underground railroad. Since the house is so huge, we thought that this place would be fun to write a math problem about. But one of the main reasons we picked this house is because it is the house that Kaitlyn currently lives in. After reading about Amasa Walker, who lived there when the house was built, we came to realize that he had a very exciting life.
Amasa Walker was born in the village of Muddy Brook, Connecticut (now known as East Woodstock) on May 4th, 1799. Wherever he was he always wrote and spoke freely in support of the antislavery movement. He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate and took his seat in 1850. While he was in the Senate, he passed a bill that called for Webster's Dictionary to be introduced into Massachusetts schools. Amasa Walker died on October 29th, 1875 (at the age of 76.)
Here is some information on what the house looks like on the inside. It has two floors. On the first floor, there are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two kitchens, one living room, one den, an office, a playroom, and one room for the washer and dryer. On the second floor, there are six bedrooms, two bathrooms, one kitchen, and one living room. There is also a cellar and an attic. The attic includes a bathroom, a small kitchen/dining area and one bedroom (it’s set up like a studio apartment).
On the outside of the house, there is a horse block that Amasa Walker used to use to get up onto his horse, Jenny. His initials (AW) are etched on the stone. In the spring, there is a garden around a birdbath on the front lawn. There is a swing-set in the back yard. There used to be a huge tulip tree that was there when the house was built. Many years ago, however, the tree was struck by lightening. After years of decay, it finally had to be cut down a couple of years ago.
Our Math Problems:
If Amasa Walker could only use 1/3 of the 1st floor and the 1st floor took up 33ft by 23 ft., how much space could Amasa Walker use to hide the slaves? If the first floor measures 33 ft. by 23 ft. and all of the other floors measure the same and the house has 2 1/2 floors, what is the size of the entire house?
Question 1 : To solve: find the area of the first floor and divide the area by 3.
Question 2 : To solve find the area of the first floor, multiply it by two. Then take the original area of the first floor and multiply it by 2.5 since the house has 2 ½ floors.