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Worked great with preservice teachers

I used this with my preservice elementary teachers as we worked on the Pythagorean Theorem. Lovely idea; they were hooked by the context and we took it from there. Thanks, Mathalicious!

233 Days ago by Christopher Danielson

My high school students liked this!

I didn’t even finish passing out the Student Handout before kids had their arms in the air imitating the angles of ladders and why they couldn’t be too steep or too flat. Engages students right off the bat. The time might be a little short. I didn’t get as far into the lesson as I wanted to.

98 Days ago by jmckee

Rate and review this lesson 12345

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The Gist

55-70 minutes

In 2005, when discussing the proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano said, “You show me a fifty foot wall. I’ll show you a fifty-one foot ladder.”

 

In this lesson, we’ll use the Pythagorean Theorem (Grade 8) or trigonometric ratios (Geometry) to explore the math of ladders, from the home variety to fire trucks. Was Governor Napolitano right? To climb a 50-foot wall, would a 51-foot ladder actually be long enough??

Common Core Standards

8.G.7
G.SRT.8

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