Explore Topic: Miles, Metrics & Math

Planning and carrying out this expedition is largely a numbers game—How far is it to the next community? How much gas should be carried? How many miles can be made each day?  These are questions the crew will be dealing with on a daily basis. Temperature and mileage readings will be reported on daily expedition updates on the website. Use these numbers as data sets to introduce or practice age-appropriate math skills. For example, have them calculate the average daily distance traveled during a specific time period. Make a bar graph of daily morning and evening temperatures. Discuss the metric system and try converting between miles & kilometers, gallons & liters, etc. Have them try their hand at a story problem such as this:
The Skandic ATV snowmobile can travel about 8 miles on a gallon of gas when pulling a heavy sled. Each expedition sled contains 9 gas cans. Each can holds 5 gallons of gas. The snowmobile also has a gas tank that holds an additional 12 gallons.

• How far can the snowmobile go on a single tank of gas?
• If the tank and all gas cans are filled, how many gallons of gas can each sled and machine carry?
• If the tank and all gas cans are filled, what is the total distance the snowmobile and sled can travel before it is out of gas?
• If the total trip is 2,400 miles, how many gallons of gas will each machine use to travel this distance?
• If gas costs $5.00 (U.S. dollars) per gallon, what is the total cost of gas for each machine at the end of the trip?
• If six machines made the trip from start to finish, what would the total cost of gas be for the entire expedition?

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