Grade
3

Math in Our World: Animal Walk

At one end, the sidewalk has a 'start' label. The first section is for the frog jump. The next section is for crab walk. The next 2 sections are for bunny hops.

Taylor is creating an animal walk for the sidewalk in front of his house. First he plans to do the frog-jump for 4 feet. He’ll do the crab walk for the next 4 feet. Then for 8 feet he’ll hop like a bunny. He is still adding more sections to his animal walk and wants to make it even longer, so it’s more fun. There are lots of animals he could include!

  1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  2. Use pictures, models, or numbers to describe this situation.
  3. What mathematical questions can you ask about this situation? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Draw a number line. Mark off the lengths for each activity. How many activities do you want to include?
  • How long is your animal walk if you go from the beginning to the end and back again?

Show your work to someone else, and explain your thinking. Did they understand?
Ask if they have any other questions you can answer!

Design your own animal walk. It could be on a sidewalk or in your backyard. If you don’t have space for one at home, design one on paper. What animals do you like? How could they walk, hop, or move? How long do you want to move like each animal? You might change animals every 4, 8, or even 12 feet. How long will your animal walk be?