Math in Our World: Alpine Combined
Quanisha was watching a women’s ski race called the Alpine Combined. In this race, skiers ski two different courses (slalom and super-G) and add their times together (combined time) to determine the rankings; the lowest combined time wins.
Quanisha printed the results, but her little brother Malik found the page and “decorated” it by cutting the rows apart and adding color. A lot of times and ranks have been colored over, but the information that’s visible for each skier is correct.
- What do you notice? What do you wonder?
- Show what is happening in this situation. Use pictures, models, or numbers.
- What mathematical questions can you ask about this situation? Answer all the questions you can!
Determine what information you have for each racer, and what information you are missing. Which missing times can you figure out?
Show your work to someone else, and explain your thinking. Did they understand?
Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer.
Imagine one more racer came in second place overall. What could the racer’s times be for the two courses?
Google doc for printing and copying
Sample problems and solutions