What is it?
A classic start of year activity might be to play a game of “Find Someone Who…”. Challenging your students to find someone who has an older brother, or a birthday in August is a good way to encourage them to talk to their fellow classmates, forming the bonds that may prove vital for the challenges ahead. That is all well and good, but how about something even better – a mathematical version of Find Someone Who? Yes, instead of attempting to unearth generic information, students instead are asked to track someone down who can write 30 minutes as a decimal or (my personal favourite) can calculate the distance travelled (to 3 s.f.) when travelling for 8 hours 10 minutes at a speed of 55 km/h. That is the kind of person I would want to know better.

How can it be used?
This wonderful resource is ideal for the start of the year, especially if students have been moved into different classes. However, it could be used all year round as a way of revising key concepts in a productive, cooperative manner. Better still, why limit ourselves to the study of speed, distance and time? A similar format could be used with any topic, and with any age of student. All you need are a nice selection of questions. Of course, careful consideration will need to be given to behaviour management to ensure things do not get out of hand, but there is a great deal of potential here.

Thanks so much for sharing
Craig Barton

Download: Distance, Speed & Time – Find Someone Who…
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