MP6: Attend to precision.

Math standard 6 states, "mathematically proficient students try to communicate precisely..." and "...are careful to specify units of measure." This task contains several pieces of information in varying units - turns, inches, feet, yards, mile. Proper labeling of numbers with corresponding units keeps the information clear and organized, especially when converting between units. The standard of mathematical practice also states that, "the calculate accurately and efficiently, express numerical answers with a degree of precision appropriate for the problem context. This task also requires the student to maintain a higher level of precision throughout the problem solving so that the answer can be converted from a circumference in inches to a distance in feet and inches. The answer is then converted to yards so determine the number of turns per mile. The numbers throughout the problem need to be accurate, devoid of rounding, until the final answer is reached. Rounding with each step would cause the solution to be increasingly inaccurate with every rounding.

This task could be difficult for students who have trouble processing and organizing multiple pieces of information. This could be alleviated by breaking the problem into smaller tasks, scaffolding the students' thinking, and helping students to organize the information into a table or graphic organizer as more information becomes known.

This task might be more engaging if the student started by studying their own bike and the distance they would travel per turn and how many turns would take them a mile away. Starting with a bike that has the same sized tires might also make this task more accessible for students with lower skills. This task might be made more challenging by incorporating information about the pedals, eg. the bike's large tire makes 1/4 turn with each revolution of the pedals, how many times must you pedal the bike to go 1 mile? A teacher might also include time information to set students up to study speed.