Chapter 3
Part 1: For the activity in the Teacher's Edition, page 58
Students can practice their research skills by finding facts about tall ships. Or you can provide them with the Data Sheet found on the Activity page (PDF file).
| Tall Ships | |||
| Name of Ship | Sail Area | Capacity | Length Overall |
| SSV Corwith Cramer | 7,800 ft2 | 36 people | 134 ft |
| SSV Robert C. Seamans | 8,554 ft2 | 36 people | 134.5 ft |
| The Schooner Ernestina | 8,323 ft2 | 65 people | 112 ft |
| Christeen | 960 ft2 | 28 people | 47 ft |
| Eagle | 1,884 ft2 | 16 people | 68 ft |
Ask the students to think of a word problem about tall ships that can be solved by using multiplication.
If you use the data provided, the students might ask questions such as, What is the maximum number of people that the Christeen could carry on three trips? (28 × 3 = 84. The maximum number of people that the Christeen could carry on three trips is 84.)
Students might also imagine that replicas are being made of a ship. One question would be, If nine replicas were made of the Eagle, what would be the area of the sails for all nine ships? (1,884 × 9 = 16,956. If nine replicas were made of the Eagle, the sail area for all nine ships would be 16,956 ft2.)
If students do their own research, the word problems they write will depend on the information they find.
Have students find solutions to the word problems they write. You might want to have them trade word problems so they can solve each other's word problems.
Part 2: Be an Investigator
A good time to do this investigation is after Lesson 5 on multiplying by two-digit numbers.
Introducing the Investigation
Introduce the investigation by reading aloud the assignment at the top of the first page of the Description of Investigation and Student Report (PDF file), by having one of your students read aloud the assignment, or by having the students read the assignment individually.
Make sure that students understand that the scale is 1 meter (m) of the ship : 1 centimeter (cm) on the model. All they have to do is to convert m to cm for all of the given dimensions.
Students may need a review of how to find area. Remind them that the area of a rectangle is calculated by multiplying the length by the width.
Put students in groups of two to four to work on the investigation.
Doing the Investigation
Have students share both their solution and how they found the solution.
Data Sheet
| Viking Ships | ||
| Ship Name | Length Overall | Width |
| Oseberg | 22 m | 5 m |
| Danmark | 60 m | 10 m |
| Aifur | 9 m | 2 m |
| Havorn | 16 m | 4 m |
| Imme Gram | 22 m | 3 m |
Answers for Data Sheet
| Viking Ship Models | |||
| Ship Name | Wood Needed for Base | ||
| Oseberg | 110 cm2 | ||
| Danmark | 600 cm2 | ||
| Aifur | 18 cm2 | ||
| Havorn | 64 cm2 | ||
| Imme Gram | 66 cm2 | ||
The amount of wood that will be needed is 858 cm2.
Student Report
The student report gives students an opportunity to show what they have done.
Extending the Investigation
Have the students put the area of the bases in order from least area to greatest area.