Page 188 - 8th Grade IM flipbook

3.2 Activity: Weight and Fuel Eciency
Card 7 of 26
“Fuel eciency” is a measure of the average distance a car will travel using a certain amount of gas.
Commonly this is measured in "miles per gallon."
For example, a car that has a fuel eciency of 25 miles per gallon (mpg) should be able to drive approximately 25 miles while using up a gallon of gas.
What would a scatter plot including these two variables look like?
Teaching notes
Pacing: 15 minutes for entire activity
This entire activity spans 7 cards. This is card 2 of 7. Launch
Explain a bit about fuel eciency so that students understand this measurement.
“Fuel eciency” is a measure of the average distance a car will travel using a certain amount of gas.
Commonly this is measured in "miles per gallon."
For example, a car that has a fuel eciency of 25 miles per gallon (mpg) should be able to drive approximately 25 miles while using up a gallon of gas.
Many factors can inuence fuel eciency, including the way an engine is engineered (to produce more power, an engine may use more gasoline), driving conditions (more frequent stopping and starting or hills will use fuel less eciently), and what accessories are being used (air conditioning requires energy that is not used for actually driving the car).
Before beginning the activity, ask “What would a scatter plot including these two variables look like?” to encourage students to predict how a car's mass might inuence fuel eciency.
If using the digital version of the activity, after completing the launch discussion, students will use an applet to analyze a scatter plot, identify points, and draw conclusions about the data. The digital activity mirrors the analog activity.
3.2 Activity: Weight and Fuel Eciency
Card 8 of 26
Teaching notes
The table and scatter plot show weights and fuel eciencies of 18 cars.
Pacing: 15 minutes for entire activity
This entire activity spans 7 cards. This is card 3 of 7. Support for students with disabilities
Visual-Spatial Processing: Visual Aids. Provide handouts of the representations for students to draw on or highlight. Students may also benet from a straight edge tool for use as a guide to locate points on the grid.