Motion and Graphs
What Do You Know Already?
Soon, you will be starting a unit on distance, time, motion and how motion is graphed. We'll start this unit with a few questions to see what you may already know about them.

Please think about the questions on the following pages and give your best answer.

Click the arrow to the right to go on to the next page.

The Football Field
The markings on a standard American football field show the distance to the nearest endzone. The whole field is 100 yards long, but it is marked with 50 yards in the middle with decreasing numbers toward each endzone. The diagram shows the football field markings with the two endzones, one for the red team and one for the blue team.








The red team makes a pass from their own 20 yard line to the blue team's 40 yard line. How long was the pass? 20 yards 30 yards 40 yards 50 yards 60 yards 40 yards Please explain how you got your answer.
A Race on the Football Field
Vijay and Wei-Lynn are running a race on the football field. The finish line is at the 50 yard line, but they do not start at the same position. Vijay starts at the red team's endzone line and Wei-Lynn starts at the blue team's endzone line. The graph below shows the first 30 yards of both Vijay's and Wei-Lynn's runs.





Who do you predict will win the race? Wei-Lynn Vijay Please explain your choice.
Acorn and Berry
The diagram below represents a piece of train track along which two towns named Acorn and Berry are located. The track happens to be marked with mile markers as indicated.


The red line on the graph below represents a trip of a train on the track that connects Acorn and Berry as it moves in time.









How far did the train travel? 18 miles 25 miles 6 miles 4 miles When was the train stopped? It never stopped. It stopped at 25 minutes It stopped from 0 to 6 minutes and 18 to 25 minutes. It stopped at 2 minutes and at 6 minutes. How long was the train actually moving? 6 minutes 12 minutes 18 minutes 25 minutes
Graphs Tell a Story
Graphs of motion tell stories of trips. The graph below represents another trip on the track that connects Acorn and Berry. On this graph, each part of the trip is labeled with a letter.






Which statement below best describes the story of the train's trip? The train went down into a valley and back up on the other side. The train went from Berry down into the valley, stopped briefly at Acorn, and returned to Berry. The train went from Berry to Acorn, stopped briefly at Acorn, and returned to Berry. The train went from Berry to Acorn, stopped briefly at Acorn and then on to a new destination. On which part of the trip was the train going the fastest? A B C D E
Sketch the Graph
Sketch a graph that tells the story below. Click on the pencil tool to the right of the graph and use your mouse or stylus to draw the graph. You can change you line by redrawing it, or clear it and start over if you like. Remember, this graph is a sketch; it does not need to be perfect.




The train is stopped in Acorn for two minutes, but then leaves for Berry.
Three minutes into the trip the engineer sees a cow on the tracks and stops the train.
After two minutes, the cow moves on and the engineer resumes the trip.
When the train reaches Berry it stops for three minutes, and then returns to Acorn.
Speed
The graph below shows the movement of an object at several points in time.





What is the average speed of the object 0.5 meters / minute 2 meters / minute 25 meters / minute 50 meters / minute
The End
Thank you for answering these questions. You may close this activity. Your answers will be saved.