The Tortoise and the Hare
Once upon a time there was a Hare who was boasting how he could run faster than
anyone else and was forever teasing the tortoise for his slowness. Then one day the
irritated tortoise answered back, “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying
you’re fast but even you can be beaten.” The hare squealed with laughter. A course
was planned and the next day they stood at the starting line. The graph below shows
the data table of the two contestants. Make a graph of the data to see what happened
in the story.
Hare
Distance ÷ Time
Speed
1 mi
.5 hr
1÷.5 = 2 mi/hr
2 mi
1 hr
=
3 mi
3 hr
=
4 mi
8 hr
=
5 mi
12 hr
=
Tortoise
Distance ÷ Time
Speed
1 mi
2 hr
1÷2 = .5 mi/hr
2 mi
4 hr
=
3 mi
6 hr
=
4 mi
8 hr
=
5 mi
10 hr
=
Who won the race? __________________
1. Explain what happened to the Hare’s speed throughout the race.
2. Explain what happened to the Tortoise’s speed throughout the race.
Tortoise –
Hare –
●
D
is
ta
n
c
e
(
m
il
e
s)
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
8
9
10
11
12
13
Time (hours)
Speed (mi/hr)
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Time (hours)