Smith-Cotton Junior High 7th Grade Math

Flexible Learning Lessons

Lesson - 31   Directions: Willis Tower. When it was completed in 1973, the Willis Tower in  Chicago became the tallest building in the United States. The tower’s Skydeck on  the 103rd �oor o�ers an incredible view that attracts 1.3 million visitors per year.  The express elevators to the Skydeck are among the fastest in the world. For 1 - 4,  use the table.  

 

Skydeck Elevators  

Time (s)   Distance (ft)  

1   27  

2   54  

3   81  

4   108  Questions:  

1) The table shows the distance the Skydeck elevators travel in seconds.  Describe the pattern in the table.  

 

2) Find the distance an elevator can travel in 7 seconds. Explain how you found  the distance.  

 

3) Write an expression that gives the distance an elevator travels in s seconds.  

 

4) It takes 50 seconds for an elevator to go from the ground up to the Skydeck.  What numerical expression could you use to �nd about how many feet the  elevator travels?  

Lesson - 32  Directions: Amphibians and Reptiles of Arizona. The desert climate of Arizona  makes the state an ideal habitat for amphibians reptiles. In fact, the state has  more than 140 di�erent species of lizards, turtles, snakes, frogs, and toads.  Visitors to the state may even see one the 11 species of rattlesnakes found in  Arizona.   

Questions:  

1) Most reptiles can survive only in temperatures between -4 degrees celsius  and 36 degrees celsius. What is the di�erence between these temperatures?  

 

 

2) In Arizona, there are 28 species of amphibians and 52 species of snakes. An  employee at a museum is arranging photos of these species on a wall. The  photos will be placed in rows. Each row will have the same number of species  of amphibians and the same number of species of snakes.   

 a) The employee wants to make as many rows of photos as possible. How  

many rows can the employee make?  

 

 

 

b) How many photos of amphibians will be in each row? How many photos  of snakes will be in each row?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For 3 - 5, use the table.  

Lizards of Arizona  

Species   Length (cm)  

Gila Monster   53 53  

Desert Iguana   14.6  

Great Plains Skink  10133  

Common Chuckwalla   22.9  

Zebra-Tailed Lizard  551  

 

3) Write the length of the Gila Monster as a decimal.  

 

4) Write the length of the desert iguana as a mixed number in simplest form.  

 

5) List the �ve species of lizards in order from shortest to longest.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

Lesson - 33  Directions: Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail. The roots of free public  education in the United States can be traced to southern Virginia. A self-guided  driving tour of the area takes visitors to more than 40 schools, libraries, and other  sites that played a key role in the story of civil rights in education. The Wilson  family is driving the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail. Use the map to solve  these problems about their trip.  

 

Questions:  

1) The Wilsons drive from Appomattox to Petersburg on the �rst day of their  trip. How many miles do they drive?  

 

2) On the second day of the trip, they drive from Petersburg to South Hill. How  much further do they drive on the �rst day than on the second day?  

 

3) The distance from South Boston to Halifax is of the distance from Farmville 61  

to Nottoway. What is the distance from South Boston to Halifax?  

 

4) The entire trip from Appomattox to Halifax is 202.2 miles. The Wilsons’ car  gets 21.5 miles to the gallon. How many gallons of gas will they use for the  trip?  

 

5) Gas cost $3.65 per gallon. How much will gas cost for the entire trip?  

 

 

Lesson - 34  

Directions: Paul Bunyan Statues. According to legend, Paul Bunyan was a giant  lumberjack whose footsteps created Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes. Statues  honoring this mythical �gure can be found throughout the states. One of the  largest, in Brainerd, stands 26 feet tall and can greet you by name. Hint: These  questions are related to proportions.  

  Questions:   

1) A tourist who is 1.8 m tall stands next to the statue of Paul Bunyan in  Bemidji, MN. He measures the length of his shadow and the shadow cast by  the statue. The measurements are shown in the �gure. What is the height of  the statue?   

      

2) Show how to use dimensional analysis to convert the height of the statue to  feet. Round to the nearest foot. (Hint: 1 m = 3.28 feet)  

   

3) The Bemidji statue includes Paul Bunyan’s companion. Babe, the Blue Ox.  the statue’s horns are 14 feet across. The statue was made using the  dimensions of an actual ox and a scale of 3:1. What was the height of the  horns of the actual ox?  

   

4) The kneeling Paul Bunyan statue in Akeley, MN, is 25 feet tall. The ratio of  the statue’s height to its width is 17:11. What is the width of the statue to  the nearest tenth of a foot?  

    

5) A souvenir of the Akeley statue is made using the scale 2in:5ft. What is the  height of the souvenir?  

                        

Lesson - 35  Directions: Corn. Nebraska’s nickname is the Cornhusker State, which seems  appropriate because corn is Nebraska’s top crop in terms of acres and dollar value.  In 2007, nearly 1.5 billion bushels of corn were harvested in the state.    For 1 - 2, use the table.    

Questions:  

1) The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of  carbohydrates for a teenage girl is 130  grams.  

a) What percent of the RDA of  carbohydrates does a teenage girl  consume by eating an ear of corn?  Round to the nearest percent.  

 

 

b) Write the percent as a decimal and a fraction.  

 

2) A student’s dinner included a medium ear of corn. The corn provided 12% of  the Calories in the meal. How many Calories did the student consume at  dinner?  

 

3) In 2007, 9.4 million acres of corn were planted in Nebraska. In the United  States, 93.6 million acres of corn were planted. Estimate the percent of all  corn in the United States that was planted in Nebraska.    

 

4) The 9.4 million acres of corn planted in Nebraska in 2007 was an 11%  increase from the amount of corn planted in the state in 2006.  

a) How many acres of corn were planted in Nebraska in 2006?  

 

b) Suppose 10 million acres of corn were planted in Nebraska in 2008.  Find the percent increase from 2007 to 2008. Round to the nearest  percent.  

  

 Lesson - 36  Directions: The Utah Jazz. In 1979, the New Orleans  Jazz moved to Salt Lake City, giving the state of Utah  its �rst professional sports team. Since then, the Jazz  have appeared frequently in the NBA’s postseason  playo�s. Use the table for all questions.    

Questions:  

1) Find the mean, median, mode and range of the  data.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) The mean number of wins for the �rst two seasons from the table is equal to  the number of wins for the 2007-2008 season. How many wins did the Jazz  have in the 2007-2008 season?  

 

3) Which season, if any, was an outlier? How does removing it this season from  the data set a�ect the mean, median, and mode?  

 

 

 

4) Describe possible reasons for the low number of wins in the 2004-2005  season.  

 

     

Lesson - 37  Directions: The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of  Fame. Since 2002, Frawley Stadium in Wilmington has  been home to the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of  Fame. The 5000-square-foot hall features artifacts,  uniforms, and photos of the outstanding athletes who  have been part of Delaware’s history. For 1 - 3, use the  table.    

Questions:  

1) The table shows the 2007 inductees at the hall.  Alison is taking pictures of the inductees. She chooses an inductee at random  for the �rst photograph.  

a) What is the probability that the inductee played football?  

 

b) What is the probability that the inductee did not play football?  

 

2) What is the probability that she chooses a baseball player?  

 

3) What is the probability that she chooses a coach?  

 

4) Alison chooses another inductee at random for the second photograph. What  is the probability that the inductee in the �rst two photos both played  football?  

 

  

          

Lesson - 38  Directions: Rock Climbing. New Hampshire  is nicknamed the Granite State, so it’s not  surprising that it o�ers some of the best rock  climbing in the country. For those who want  to practice or take lessons, the state has  more than a dozen indoor climbing gyms.  

Questions:  

1) Ethan is planning to learn rock  climbing at an indoor climbing gym.  The table shows the day-use fees and  cost of lessons at Indoor Ascent.  

a) Look for a pattern in the table.  Let x represent the number of  days. Write an expression for the fees.  

 

b) The total cost is the price of the two lessons plus the day-use fees.  Write an expression that gives the total cost for x days.  

 

2) A di�erent gym has a day-use fee of $25, but the two lessons are included for  free. Write and solve an inequality to �nd out when it is less expensive to go  Indoor Ascent.  

 

 

3) Ethan’s budget for lessons and fees at Indoor Ascent is $185. Write and  solve an equation to �nd out how many days he can go to the gym.  

 

 

4) Ethan saves $45 per month. For how many months must he save to have at  least enough money to pay for the lessons and fees?    

 

 

 

 

Lesson - 39  

Directions: Focus on Problem Solving Skills. To solve a word problem, you must  determine which math operation you can use to �nd the answer.   

Questions:  

1) Judy plays the �ute in the band. She practices for 3 hours every week. Judy  practices only half as long as Angie, who plays the clarinet. How long does  Angie practice playing the clarinet each week?  

 

2) Each year, members of the band and choir are invited to join the bell  ensemble for the winter performance. There are 18 bells in the bell  ensemble. This year, each student has 3 bells to play. How many students  are in the bell ensemble this year?  

 

3) For every percussion instrument in the band, there are 4 wind instruments.  If there are 48 wind instruments in the band, how many percussion  instruments are there?  

 

4) A group of 4 people singing together in harmony is called a quartet. At a  state competition for high school choir students, 7 quartets from di�erent  schools competed. How many students competed in the quartet competition?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson - 40  

Directions: Focus on Problem Solving Skills. When you know the operation you  must use and you know exactly which number to use, a calculator might be the  easiest way to solve a problem. Sometimes, it may be quicker to use mental math  when the numbers are smaller.     

Questions:  

1) A scouting troop is collecting aluminum cans to raise money for charity.  Their goal is to collect 3000 cans in 6 months. If they set a goal to collect an  equal number of cans each month, how many cans can they expect to collect  each month?  

 

2) The Grand Canyon is 29,000 meters wide at its widest point. The Empire  State Building, located in NYC, is 381 meters tall. Laid end to end, about how  many Empire State Buildings would �t across the Grand Canyon at its widest  point?  

 

3) On a piano keyboard, all but one of the black keys are arranged in groups so  that there are 7 groups with 2 black keys each and 7 groups with 3 black keys  each. How many black keys are there on a piano?  

 

4) Some wind chimes are made of rods. The rods are usually of di�erent  lengths, producing di�erent sounds. The frequency of the sound is measured  in hertz (Hz). If one rod on a chime has a frequency of 55Hz and another rod  has a frequency that is twice that of the �rst rod’s, what is the frequency of  the second rod?