STEAMed Magazine October 2016 | Page 12

Nothing is as exciting as a “challenge” activity for students. In this STEAM challenge, you’ll see how students interact, manipulate and create solutions in and through math, engineering and the arts. THE CHALLENGE 
 Mathematics students must help rescue a (toy) soldier or princess (figurine) by transporting the (toy) solider or princess (figurine) in a carrier down a zip line. The scenario or situation involves using a zip line to rescue a soldier or princess from a tower 4 feet above the ground to a point on the ground 3 feet from the tower. Step 1 – Individual Mathematical Testing First, students represent the zip line graphically on a coordinate plane. Reviewing the scenario description, students determine that the line graphed on a coordinate plane will have a y-intercept of (0,4) and a x-intercept of (3,0) where the y-axis measures vertical distance traveled or the altitude of the soldier/princess and the x-axis measures horizontal distance traveled or the ground distance covered by the soldier/princess. After plotting both the y-intercept and the x-intercept points on a given coordinate plan, students connect the points to form a line segment graphed only in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane. Second, students represent the zip line as a linear equation in slope-intercept form, or y = mx + b, where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-coordinate of the y-intercept. Analyzing the graph, students determine the slope of the zip line to be -4/3 and, understanding that the y-intercept of the zipline is (0, 4), students write the equation of the zip line in slope-intercept form as: y = -4/3x + 4 Using the Pythagorean Theorem, students can determine the length of the zip line or the minimum amount of string) needed to construct the zip line. STEAMed Magazine 12 October 2016 Edition