Lesson: Running the Great World

Hold a class discussion on making choices related to what to buy at a grocery store. Ask students: If you go to a grocery store to buy a package of cookies, how do you decide which package to buy? (Answers will vary. Students may talk about a favorite flavor/brand, they may mention a particular size that lets them get the most cookies for the best value, or they may choose the size that actually contains the number of cookies they want, no matter the unit price.) Tell students that one way a person might decide which package to buy is by thinking about the unit price—the price of each cookie in the package. Then tell students that they will be learning about unit rates in the article they read today.

Distribute or digitally share the “Problem and Solution” literacy skills sheet. Then play the audio read-aloud for the class. As students listen, have them complete the skills sheet independently. Then have volunteers share examples of the problems and solutions they found.

Play the “Unit Rate” video. Then read aloud the “Using Rates” box on page 8. Have students read through the first panel of page 8 individually. Select a volunteer to read questions 1 and 2 aloud. Demonstrate how to write the rate and then simplify it for question 1, reminding students that they should always write the units along with the rate. Then choose volunteers to model how to solve question 2. Emphasize that there are two ways to solve this problem:

1) Find the unit rate and then multiply or divide that rate by the number given in the problem.
10 bricks/5 feet → 10 ÷ 5 = 2 bricks per foot
2 bricks per foot × 35 feet = 70 bricks

2) Write a proportion using the rate or unit rate, then cross multiply or isolate the variable.
10 bricks/5 feet  = b bricks/35 feet
10 bricks × 35 feet = b bricks × 5 feet
350 bricks × feet = 5b bricks × feet
b bricks = 350 bricks × feet ÷ 5 feet = 70 bricks

Then have students work in pairs to read the remainder of the story and answer the questions. Review the answers as a class, choosing volunteers to share how they solved each problem.

Tell students that this article presents real information, fictional elements, and mathematical practice on rates in a fun way—a comic strip. Have students design their own comic strip with unit rate questions. Distribute or digitally share the “Create a Comic Strip” template. Tell students they can choose a new character and setting or continue the story of “Running the Great Wall.” Require students to include at least 4 rate questions in their comic.

Split the class into 6 groups. Have each group research a different subtopic about the Great Wall of China: 1) History of the Great Wall, 2) Great Wall facts and statistics, 3) The Great Wall today, 4) Great Wall culture, legends, and stories, 5) Chinese dynasties, 6) Structure of the Great Wall. Allow groups to share their research in a medium of their choice, including a written research report with citations, video, poster, song/rap/poem, historical fiction diary entry, PowerPoint, board game, or task cards.

Collect or create a shared digital document of the unit rate questions that each student wrote for question 15 of the article. Have students choose 3 of their classmates’ questions to solve.