One of the most difficult concepts for my students to grasp has always been understanding how to read distance/time motion graphs. It can be really TRICKY! I have found the most successful way to help them understand how to read this type of graph is to pair graphs with a story. They love learning it this way- it is a real TREAT! This standard almost always falls into the scope and sequence around Halloween, so I usually teach this concept through the use of a story about, you guessed it- TRICK or TREATING. I tell the story once. Then I tell it again, this time we graph each step of the story as I go.
Here is the story and graph I share with them:
As I was trick or treating last night I went from house to house (each house is about 20 m apart, so it only took one minute to walk). I would stop at each door to get candy and usually small talk with the neighbor for two minutes before moving on to the next house. I did this for three houses in a row. When I went to the fourth house, the porch light was on and it was decorated, but no one answered the door. I stood there for one minute. As I got ready to leave something jumped out of the bushes “BOO!” I screamed and ran 40 m in thirty seconds before stopping for two minutes to catch my breath and turning around to see that it was just my neighbor (laughing at me). I couldn’t believe he had scared me so bad. It took me two minutes to walk back over to his house and demand candy, KING SIZE. After talking for 5 minutes and promising to get him back next year, I decided I had enough excitement for one night, and I headed 80m back home. It took me 4 minutes. When I got home, I climbed into bed with my bag full of candy and turned on Hocus Pocus to finish off the night.
Once we have completed our graphs, I ask questions and we make observations. Is one part of the graph more steep? Why do you think that is? What happened when there are flat straight lines? What happened at the end? Why is the line going down? We discuss misconceptions about graphs– pointing out that this is a distance/time graph– so as we move up the graph, we are moving further way from our starting point. As we move back down, we are getting closer to our starting point. We talk about how moving up and down the graph does not affect the speed, rather the steepness of the line shows whether we are going faster/slower. We talk about how the graph from left to right shows time passing, in this case in minutes.
We then create another story time/distance graph as a class– with the students supplying the story. Once we have completed our second story graph together, they are ready to create their own. This really seems to help my students to get it! I use the same method when we look at speed/time graphs– using a story, modeling, graphing together, and then letting them create their own graphs. Sometimes we exchange stories and graph each others’. If you are looking for a fun way to teach this concept, get a FREE copy of
My Trick or Treat Story and Blank Graph to use with your students.
Have you already covered graphing motion? Use this Speed, Velocity & Acceleration Graphs Card Sort & Exit Ticket to check for understanding.
Check out my other Force & Motion Resources
