Math in Motion: Animal Speeds Activity!
This spring, I had the pleasure of racing groups of middle school students from across the region to find out which of us is at the top of the food chain (spoiler alert... not me!).
CGCC's 5th annual Math Day was a huge hit! Middle schoolers got to learn hands-on, applicable math from professors, industry professionals, and local STEM geniuses. Topics ranged from How Not to Kill Your Patients to Stomp Rocket Science. Leaning into this year's "Math in the Wild" theme, I brought an Animal Speeds activity.
First, students recorded three of their own speeds (tortoise crawl, normal walk, and all-out sprint) on a 20-meter track. They then calculated their speed for each using the formula speed = distance/time.
The best part was comparing our results to different animals. While most of us landed somewhere in the neighborhood of a chicken or a pig (a humbling realization), one student actually reached "Almost Elephant" speed (7.8 m/s)! To spark conversations throughout the day, we all wore name tags proudly sporting our animal matches.
Some additional questions stretched their thinking:
How many of "you" would it take to match a cheetah?
How much of a head start would you need to tie a cat in a 100-meter race?
If you were three times faster than your current speed, how long would it take to reach the end of the hall?
The students had some questions of their own about the variables, which I see as the most successful part of the challenge! One student wondered if the momentum of a running start would impact their time. Another requested to try the course in reverse because the track was on a slight incline.
In the end, the fastest students from each group got their names on the leaderboard, and everyone got to keep talking about their "chicken," "pig," or "rattlesnake" status.
This was the sweet spot for a low-floor, high-ceiling middle school activity, but it could easily be adapted for upper elementary groups, too! If you're interested in incorporating a bit of movement and biology into your math class, I've attached the animal speed cards and lab sheet here. 😊