Source: Cyberchase: “A Broom of One’s Own”
Funding for the VITAL/Ready to Teach collection was secured through the United States Department of Education under the Ready to Teach Program.
In this video segment from Cyberchase, Bianca is invited to attend a movie premiere. On her way she must stop at her cousins’ birthday party. Unfortunately she is delayed when her car runs out of gas and then gets a flat tire. She is running out of time to get to the premiere, so she consults a map and makes a decision about which route would take the least amount of time. She bases her decision on the distance of each route and the speed limit allowed on each road.
Download and ShareHere are some Frame, Focus and Follow-up suggestions for using this video in a math lesson.
What is Frame, Focus and Follow-up?
Frame: There is usually more than one way to get to a destination. Let’s say you want to get from a classroom at one end of the school to the cafeteria at the other end. There are two hallways that will take you there. One hallway is a straight path, but it is usually very crowded. The other hallway has some turns and is definitely longer, but it is never crowded. How would you make a decision about which hallway to take? What factors would you consider?
Focus: In this video segment Bianca is running out of time to get to the movie premiere. She consults a map and makes a decision about which route will be the quickest. What are the factors that she weighs to make her decision?
Follow Up: What do the intersecting areas on a Venn Diagram show us? Why does the middle section of Bianca's pizza have no toppings? When does it make sense to use a Venn Diagram to represent data?
BIANCA: I won a contest on NTV to go to the premiere of Orlando's new movie!
NEIGHBOR: Hi!
BIANCA: Hello. I'm so excited, but I don’t want anybody to think I'm not cool. Before the premiere, I’m going to my cousin’s birthday party. I have it all planned out. I’ll change at the house, and leave with plenty of time to get to the theater.
Bye, Happy Birthday!
BIANCA: A movie premiere…Maybe I'll get my picture in the newspaper. What if Orlando sees me and asks me to be in his next movie? What if I become a movie star?!! What if I… run out of gas! Oh, no!! I should have filled up before. There was a gas station about a quarter of a mile back. If I hurry, I can still be on time. Great! I bet the gas station attendant is going to make fun of me – all dressed up, but with no shoes...You should have checked the gas gauge before. I’ll have to get a can of gas, walk all the way back to the car, then drive back to the gas station to return the can. Why me!
GAS STATION ATTENDANT: Hi Ma'am, can I help you?
BIANCA: I need a can of gas, and no wise cracks!
BIANCA: Maybe I can still make it. A flat tire. Just what I need right now. There’s one missing, where can it be? I’m going to be late for sure. Maybe I can see the end of the movie. Maybe there’s a faster way to go.
BIANCA: I always take this road. It's very pretty and only 30 miles to the city, but it's slow –the speed limit’s only 25 miles an hour. Going at that speed it would take more than an hour to get there. There’s also a highway. This road is 40 miles to the city – that’s 10 miles further than my usual way, but the speed limit is 60 miles an hour. That’s a mile a minute. I can get to the theater in 40 minutes on this road. By driving at a faster speed I can go further in less time.
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