Name _______________________ Period: ______________ Date: _________________
Distance vs. Ramp Height (High Level Task)
The students in a Math Club decided to roll a tennis ball down a ramp and measure how far it travels. To see if there is a relationship between the distance that a tennis ball rolls and the steepness of the ramp, they stacked books beneath one side of the ramp. (See Section 1.10 Distance vs. Ramp pg. 42 – Figure 1.29). As they changed the number of books, they rolled the ball and measured the distance of the roll. The data from the experiment is give below and in Figure 1.30 in textbook.
Ramp Height in Books
Distance Traveled from the end of the Ramp (in)
1
27
2
53
3
84
4
110
5
129
6
160
7
180
Using “TI Nspire Distance vs. Ramp.tns file”, justify how there is a proportional relationship between the distance traveled and the number of books. Use three different methods (table, graph, and equation) to predict the distance a tennis ball travels if the ramp is 15 books high. Students should report out their justification which demonstrates that they have mastered the concept of proportional relationships (direct variation).
The Mercury Project ‐ 030302_hlt_distance_vs_ramp_height.doc – Page 1 of 1 Adapted from Modeling with Mathematics: A Bridge to Algebra II