Roving the Distance

Jennifer HarveyNorwood Middle School

The Challenge Mathematical Content Standards

Essential Questions

Mathematical Formulas

The Engineering DesignProcess

Lessons and Activities

Participants

To design and build a rubber band-powered rover that can scramble across the floor. You will then use applications of the Pythagorean Theorem and the Distance Formula to figure out how far the rover traveled.

Norwood Middle School Students

Lesson NotesHands on ActivitiesGroup WorkHomeworkPractice AssignmentsDesign Building a Rover

How do you find the length of a diagonal line if you are not given a ruler?If you were in space, how would you calculate the distance a rover could travel?

Explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse.

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to determine unknown side lengths.

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points in the coordinate system.

1. You will work in groups to design a rover. You can informally test your rover in the class before we test them.

2. You will go down to the gym to test your rovers and calculate the distance the rover traveled.

3. You will re-design your rover to try to make it go a further distance,

4. You will test your rover and make comparisons between the distances.

CEEMS is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant #1102990.