Source: TV411: Episode 114
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 TV411, two professional basketball players plan a trip from Atlanta, Georgia to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Using a road map of the United States and a ruler, they figure out the distance they must travel. To calculate how long the trip will take, they focus on the map’s legend and their predicted driving speed.
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: When you look at a map, what kinds of features do you see? Is it possible to tell how far it is from one city to another on a map? Where do you find information on a map that would help you figure out distances between two points?
Focus: As you watch this video segment, you’ll see that the basketball players spend a lot of time figuring out how long the trip from Atlanta to Springfield will take. How do they figure this out? Where do they get their numbers from?
Follow Up: How long do the basketball players estimate their trip will take? What kind of mathematics did they use to figure this out? What measuring tools did they use? If you were going to calculate how long a trip from New York to Florida would take, how would you go about doing it?
LAPHONSO: Hi! I’m LaPhonso Ellis.
ALAN: I’m Alan Henderson
BOTH: And we play for the Atlanta Hawks.
LAPHONSO: Hey Alan!
ALAN: Hey LaPhonso!
LAPHONSO: Hey the season is finally over.
ALAN: Yeah it’s been a long year. I’m looking forward to some time off to rest.
LAPHONSO: I hear you. I was thinking about taking a trip. Let’s take a trip to the basketball hall of fame.
ALAN: Anxious to see my future home, are you?
LAPHONSO: Come on. Quit kidding.
ALAN: No. I’m just playing. You know it’s a long way from Atlanta to Springfield.
LAPHONSO: Let’s go!
ALAN: We better get a road map before we do anything.
LAPHONSO: True. Let’s go get one.
NARRATOR: In order to get from Atlanta Georgia to Springfield Massachusetts, LaPhonso and Alan decide to check out a map of the entire United States. This map includes every state, major cities and most major roads and highways.
ALAN: I’ve got it! Right here. Springfield, Massachusetts.
LAPHONSO: I’ve got Atlanta.
ALAN: It looks like we can take 85 North to 95 North almost the whole way. Wow! That would take us a week to drive that far.
LAPHONSO: A week? Impossible! My sister and her husband just drove across the country in that amount of time.
ALAN: Well, how can you tell how long it would take just by looking at the map?
LAPHONSO: The legend, my friend, the legend.
NARRATOR: Most maps have a legend containing all the information you need to understand the map. There’s a compass to clue you in on direction and symbols to show you how different roads, cities, and towns are represented. The legend also has a scale to help you figure out distance. According to this map’s scale, 1 inch is equal to 80 miles.
LAPHONSO: Hey, Al, I think the easiest way to measure distance on the map is to use your fingers. All you have to do is to measure the distance between your starting point and the destination.
NARRATOR: The distance that LaPhonso measured with his fingers between Atlanta and Springfield was approximately 11 inches. Now you can check it with a ruler just to be sure. Then multiply 80 miles by 11 inches and you get a total of 880 miles.
ALAN: So if we get in the car and drive 60 miles per hour the whole way to Springfield, Massachusetts, it would take us 15 hours to get there.
LAPHONSO: Right!
ALAN: Want to know how I figured it out?
LAPHONSO: Let me guess. The legend?
ALAN: No. I just did the math.
NARRATOR: Here’s how Alan figured it out. The distance between Atlanta, Georgia and Springfield, Massachusetts is 880 miles. Let’s say LaPhonso and Alan Drive at an average of 60 miles per hour, that actually means they’ll cover 60 miles in each hour. In order to find out how many hours it will take to drive 880 miles divide 880 miles by 60 miles per hour and you get 14.6 hours. The best thing to do is to round it up to 15 to account for rest stops and maybe a burger on the way. That means it will take Alan and LaPhonso almost 15 hours to drive from Atlanta, Georgia to Springfield, Massachusetts.
ALAN: 15 hours in the car with you? I don’t think so! Let’s find a halfway point. Washington D.C. Lets stop there and stay overnight.
LAPHONSO: Sounds like a plan
Narrator: Let’s try that math again. On the map, the distance between Atlanta, Georgia and Washington D.C. is approximately 6 inches. If 1 inch is equal to 80 miles, then multiply 80 miles by 6 inches and you get 480 miles. Next divide 480 miles by 60 miles per hour and you get 8 hours. It will take Alan and LaPhonso a little more than 8 hours to drive from Atlanta Georgia to Washington D.C.
ALAN: This map stuff isn’t so bad LaPhonso. Looks to me like in order to get to the basketball hall of fame it’s a 15 hour drive.
LAPHONSO: Don’t you wish it were that easy?
Loading Standards
Connections
Print Connections
