Bill Stevenson is a teacher from Marlborough Middle School in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He has assigned a location graphing problem, similar to the one you just worked on.

In the video segment at left (duration 7:04), you can watch his sixth-grade students grapple with this problem. As you watch, think about how Mr. Stevenson is communicating the concept to his students and how you would approach this problem in your own classroom.

The problem featured in the video is different from the problems usually presented in a math classroom because it requires generating data based on your understanding of a situation. There is no way to test the accuracy of your data; however, this is still a useful process because it lets you consider and discuss reasonable estimates, and it provides a "picture" of the situation. The problem also enables students to give a variety of solutions that may be appropriate for the given data.

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