Math (Geometry)Grades 8-97 roles52 min1 class period
Math (Geometry)Grades 8-97 roles52 min1 class period
A county medical-drone network, one class period: pads, clinics, vans on the roads and drones in the air.
Grade 8 Pythagorean distance, played live: each table runs a pad in a county medical-drone network, works each clinic's distance on paper and has another Planner check it, and launches the drone if it is 10 km or less, racing a van that drives an L along the roads.
Play this after your class has learned the Pythagorean theorem and found a few distances on a grid: it is practice and application, not the first lesson. Every call is 8.G.B.8, the distance between two points in a coordinate system, and the pads sit in all four quadrants, so subtracting negatives comes up all period. The hypotenuse of a real right triangle (8.G.B.7, in part) is on the projector every time a drone beats a van that drives the two legs. Students do not need to know square roots by heart: a calculator or the square-root table on the flight log does that. Underneath the race, the game teaches checking: every number passes through a second student before the device gets it, and the squares-add-to-100 shortcut turns 10 x 10 into a range decision. It serves Grade 8 math, Math 1 review, and any unit on the coordinate plane.
What Students Will Learn
Find the distance between two points on a coordinate grid with the Pythagorean theorem, including points whose coordinates are negative.
Decide whether a distance is 10 km or less, using the sum of squares (100 or less) as a shortcut for a straight route.
Find a two-part route's length (pad to gate, gate to clinic) and explain why it is never shorter than the straight line.
Cases Included
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.8 - apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points in a coordinate system (every call)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.7 - apply the Pythagorean Theorem to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real-world problems (in part: the hypotenuse on every call; finding a leg on the exit ticket)
Social & Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Aligned to the CASEL framework's core competencies. These are the SEL skills students actively practice while playing.
Relationship SkillsEvery distance passes through two students: one works it, another checks it. A stuck student gets a partner instead of a pause.
Responsible Decision-MakingThe range call: launch only when the distance is 10 km or less, because a drone that turns back closes the pad and costs the room.
Self-ManagementThe check comes before the device: a table that rushes a distance loses the call and its pad for a minute.
Flexible Class Sizes
4 tables
For 12-15 students: crews of 3 or 4.
5 tables
For 16-20 students: crews of 3 or 4.
6 tables
For 21-28 students: crew size 4. A table one short or one over keeps working.
7 tables
For 29-35 students: crew size 5. Also fits 25-28 students at crew size 4.
How the Game Plays Out
Roles Your Students Will Play
Click any role to see their background and what they are trying to accomplish.
Birch Hollow
Your table runs Pad Birch Hollow, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Cedar Flat
Your table runs Pad Cedar Flat, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Stone Creek
Your table runs Pad Stone Creek, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Mill Pond
Your table runs Pad Mill Pond, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Fox Ridge
Your table runs Pad Fox Ridge, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Clover Bend
Your table runs Pad Clover Bend, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Lark Hill
Your table runs Pad Lark Hill, one of the county's drone pads. Clinics near you call for blood and medicine.
Goals
Work out each call's distance on paper: across, up or down, square both, add, take the square root.
Launch when the distance is 10 km or less. Press Van when it is more.
Every number passes through two students before the device gets it.
Hand Each Student Their Own Sheet
One click on the teacher dashboard prints a dossier for every role - background, goals, key facts, and their confidential briefing - plus the primary-source packet and a vocabulary sheet. Print them, or save as PDF, so each student reads their role on paper instead of huddling around one screen. The app still runs the votes and the action; the paper just carries the reading.
Primary Sources
Every role includes real historical documents. Students read them because they need the information to make their case.
Key Terms Students Will Learn
Pythagorean theoremright triangleleghypotenusecoordinate planequadrantordered pairdistance between two pointssquare rootperfect squareirrational numberround to the nearest tenthround triprangestraight-line distance
After the Game: Debrief Questions
Pick one delivery whose drone flew one straight line. Which two sides did the van drive? Which side did the drone fly? How did your flight log turn the van's two sides into the drone's side?
One clinic is 7 across and 7 up. Another is 2 across and 10 up. Which looks closer? Why does "squares add to 100 or less" tell you which one is in range, with no square root?
A GATE call could be 8 km in a straight line and still over 10 through the gate. Why are the two parts added never shorter than the straight line?
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