Real-Life Math
Forestry technicians spend most of their time outdoors and they're
required to navigate difficult terrain.
You're a forestry technician
for the Parks Service, and the summer recreation season is approaching. You've
been asked to collect field data about conditions on an existing recreation
trail. You must determine whether it is in good enough condition for the
public, or if your team must do work to repair any damage caused over the
winter.
"You use math all of the time when figuring out heights of
trees, navigation, designing cruises and surveys, scaling and planting. There
will always be a time when you will have to calculate something," says technician
Natasha Kavli.
According to your map, the ranger station
and the lookout point are 7 miles apart if you follow the path. You leave
the ranger station at 11:00 a.m. You are carrying a pack and travel 1.5 miles
an hour until you reach a mid-way rest point at 12:45. You must reach the
lookout point by 2:00 in order to complete your assignment and make it back
to the ranger station by 5:00.
Your team will be leaving the Ranger
Station at 5:00. If you want to reach the Lookout Point by 2:00, how fast
will you have to go?