As the Crow Flies

Suppose that the city in which you live has a system of evenly spaced perpendicular streets, forming square city blocks. The map below shows your school; your house (A), which is located two blocks west and five blocks north of the school; and your best friend’s house (C)' which is located eight blocks east and one block south of the school. Use the tools in the toolbar to draw on the applet.

1. How many blocks would you have to drive to get from your house to your friend’s house? Draw a path that you would drive, and calculate the distance.

2. What if you could use a helicopter to fly straight from your house to your friend’s house? Draw the path that you would take. How could you find the distance “as the crow flies”?

3. How could you find the midpoint between your house and your friends house? What would the midpoint be?

4. How could you use the coordinates to calculate the distance “as the crow flies” from your house to your friend’s house? Could you write a formula or equation to calculate the distance?

5. Suppose that your uncle lives two blocks east and one block south of the school and that you decide to stop by his house on the way home from your friend’s house. Compute the round-trip distance from your house to your friend’s house, to your uncle’s house, and then back to your own house. a. Draw a picture to show your solution. b. Show how you could find the round-trip distance by using only coordinates.

As the Crow Flies

As the Crow Flies

New Resources

Discover Resources

Discover Topics