Student Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________ Period: _________
Performance Task: Unit #3 - Proportionality and Constant Rate of Change
The Race Is On!
In your math class several students were asked who they thought would win in a race between a Greyhound
Dog, an Ostrich, a Cheetah and a sports car. You were given information about each of the contestants that
is listed below.
The Greyhound Dog is one of the fastest runners of all dogs. Greyhounds are commonly known for their
use on the race track where they can reach speeds up to 330 feet in 5 seconds.
The Ostrich is known as the fastest bird on the ground, and can reach speeds up to 174 feet in 3 seconds.
The Cheetah is the fastest land animal and in short burst can reach speeds of 188 feet in 2 seconds.
The fastest car in the world according to the Guinness World Records is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
Car recorded to have top speed of 630 feet in 9 seconds.
1. What is the unit rate for each contestant in feet per second?
2. How do we know when to use a proportion?
3. Order the contestants from slowest to fastest. Justify you answer.
4. Create a table of the feet traveled at 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 seconds for each contestant.
5. Do your tables show a proportional relationship? Why?
6. Use the graph paper on the back of the page to create a graph illustrating the feet traveled per second for
each contestant. Title and label the graph. (Note: Each contestant should be on the same graph.)
7. Does your graph show a proportional relationship? Why?
8. Does the graph show which contestant is traveling the fastest? The slowest? How do you know?
9. Which model is most effective for representing proportional relationships?
10. How do we know when a method is more efficient?
11. How can we use the graph to predict who was in first place at one hour? What factors might affect the
outcome?
_____________________________________ (feet)
Title:__________________________________________
______________________________________ (seconds)
CATEGORY
Mathematical
Concepts
4
Explanations shows
complete
understanding of the
mathematical
concepts used to
solve the problem(s).
3
Explanation shows
substantial
understanding of the
mathematical
concepts used to
solve the problem(s).
2
Explanation shows
some understanding
of the mathematical
concepts needed to
solve the problem(s).
Mathematical
Errors
90%-100% of the
steps and solutions
have no
mathematical errors.
Explanation is
detailed and clear.
Almost (85%-89%)
of the steps and
solutions have no
mathematical errors.
Explanation is clear.
Most (75%-84%) of
the steps and
solutions have no
mathematical errors.
Explanation is a little
difficult to
understand, but
includes critical
components.
All problems are
complete.
All but one of the
problems are
completed.
All but two of the
problems are
complete.
Explanation
Completion
1
Explanation shows
very limited
understanding of the
underlying concepts
needed to solve the
problem(s) OR is not
written.
More than 75% of
the steps and
solutions have no
mathematical errors.
Explanation is
difficult to
understand and is
missing several
components OR was
not included.
Several of the
problems are not
complete.