LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Understanding distance, speed, and time relationships using simulation software

http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap5/5.2/

A lesson plan for Grades 3–5 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
3–5
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Legal

Creative Commons License

This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.

This e-example includes a software simulation of two runners along a track. Students can control the speeds and starting points of the runners, watch the race, and examine a graph of the time-versus-distance relationship. The computer simulation uses a context familiar to students, and the technology allows them to analyze the relationships more deeply because of the ease of manipulating the environment and observing the changes that occur. Activities like these can help students in the upper elementary grades understand ideas about functions and about representing change over time.

E-Math Investigations are selected e-examples from the electronic version of the Principles and Standards of School Mathematics (PSSM). The e-examples are part of the electronic version of the PSSM document. Given their interactive nature and focused discussion tied to the PSSM document, the e-examples are natural companions to the i-Math investigations.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use data and simple probability concepts.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including circle graphs and tables) to solve problems.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will recognize, determine, and represent patterns and simple mathematical relationships.
    • Objective 5.01: Describe and extend numeric and geometric patterns.
    • Objective 5.02: Extend and find missing terms of repeating and growing patterns.

Grade 4

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs, probability, and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including line graphs and bar graphs) to solve problems.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will demonstrate an understanding of mathematical relationships.
    • Objective 5.02: Translate among symbolic, numeric, verbal, and pictorial representations of number relationships.

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including stem-and-leaf plots) to solve problems.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will demonstrate an understanding of patterns, relationships, and elementary algebraic representation.
    • Objective 5.01: Describe, extend, and generalize numeric and geometric patterns using tables, graphs, words, and symbols.
    • Objective 5.02: Use algebraic expressions, patterns, and one-step equations and inequalities to solve problems.
    • Objective 5.03: Identify, describe, and analyze situations with constant or varying rates of change.