Students often complain that they will never use math in their jobs or real life and I can only reply with “it’s more than just math, it’s problem solving and critical thinking”. While the following activity is not completely applicable to real life (unless hovercrafts exist), it gives students a fun way to use math in real world context. Look at the map below and see that Petah’s house (the blue push pin) is in Schoolcraft, MI. On a beautiful day for football, he drives via 127 and 94 to get to Genny’s House (the pink push pin) in Clarklake, MI. After picking up Genny, Petah drives himself and Genny via 127 and 94 to Spartan Stadium (the green push pin) in East Lansing, MI to watch MSU football live. If Petah had a hovercraft, meaning he didn’t have to drive via highways, and didn’t have to pick up Genny in Clarklake, what is the distance (in miles) from Schoolcraft to Spartan Stadium.
Click "View Pythagorean Theorem in a larger map" and zoom in to better see the push pins. Use “get directions” to calculate the distances (in miles) between Schoolcraft and Clarklake, and Clarklake and East Lansing. Then use your knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the distance between Schoolcraft and Spartan Stadium via hovercraft. Assume Clarklake is the vertex of the right angle and that the distances from Clarklake to Schoolcraft and East Lansing to be the legs of the triangle. Oh, and the Spartans win!
View Pythagorean Theorem in a larger map
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