Lesson 9

Solving Rate Problems

Lesson Narrative

In previous lessons, students have used tables of equivalent ratios to reason about unit rates. In this lesson, students gain fluency working with unit rates without scaffolding (MP1). They choose what unit rate they want to use to solve a problem, divide to find the desired unit rate, and multiply or divide by the unit rate to answer questions. They may choose to create diagrams to represent the situations, but the problems do not prompt students to do so. The activity about which animal ran the farthest requires students to use multiple unit rates in a sequence to be able to convert all the measurements to the same unit.


Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Apply reasoning about ratios and rates to convert and compare (in writing) distances expressed in different units.
  • Apply reasoning about ratios and rates to justify (orally) whether a given price is a good deal.
  • Practice grade 5 arithmetic with fractions and decimals.

Student Facing

Let's use unit rates like a pro.

Required Preparation

Print and cut the blackline master so that each group of two students gets five cards A–E (or six cards A–F if you expect students to tackle the extension problem).

Optionally, purchase a four-pack of drinks for demonstration purposes in the Deal or No Deal activity.

Providing access to calculators is optional. All of the calculations in this lesson can be done using grade 5 techniques. If you would like students to practice arithmetic, don't offer calculators. If you think the calculations will present too much of a barrier to grade-level work, make them available.

Learning Targets

Student Facing

  • I can choose how to use unit rates to solve problems.

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Building Towards

Print Formatted Materials

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Additional Resources

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PowerPoint Slides

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