Names: __________________________
__________________________
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Lincoln Landing Activity Packet
Abraham Lincoln had many jobs before becoming president of the United States.
He is most famously known for being a lawyer and a shopkeeper, but he was also a
surveyor for a short time. Surveying is defined as the measurement of dimensional
relationships, as of horizontal distances, elevations, directions, and angles, on the earth's
surface. This is used to layout buildings, roads, walkways, sidewalks, determine
distances on land, determine area of land, and to determine property lines. In this activity,
we will act as surveyors (as Lincoln once was) determining distances, areas, and other
mathematical properties used by surveyors at the Lincoln Landing site.
Directions: Students will be broken down into groups of three students. Each group will
be given one activity packet and one tape measure. One person in the group will record
the measurements while the other two members will hold each end of the tape measure.
The groups are to find the relating landmarks at the Lincoln Landing site, and perform
their measurements accordingly. Some measurements will have to be found by
mathematical equations—SO SHOW YOUR WORK!
Remember: Try to measure from the center of each landmark to the center of each landmark. Also measure to the
closest whole inch and perform the equations in inches. This will keep your math in whole numbers. When you have
received your answer in inches, then convert the answer to feet by dividing by 12. This will prevent mistakes and
complications while working on the equations.
1. Find the Bob & Jill Carr, William Gooding, and the Dorothy Dow
medallions with “the stories that connect us” theme. These three
medallions create a triangle. Measure the distances between each
point and find the corresponding distance that will give you the area of
that triangle. Hint: Remember the formula for the area of a triangle=
1/2bxh.
Bob & Jill Carr and William Gooding = __________in & __________in
William Gooding and Dorothy Dow = __________in & __________in
Dorothy Dow and Bob & Jill Carr = __________in & __________in
Now figure out the area of the triangle created between these three
medallions using all three lines of the triangle. Be sure to show your
work.
2. Find the Patrick Fitzpatrick, Pat Darin, Abraham Lincoln, and
William Gooding medallions. These four create a rectangle. Give the
dimensions in inches for the distance of each line in this rectangle, and
calculate the area of the rectangle using 2 of these dimensions. Be
sure to show your work, and choose the correct distances in your
equations.
Line 1: __________inches
Line 2: __________inches
Line 3: __________inches
Line 4: __________inches
3. Now that you have found the area of the rectangle between
the Patrick Fitzpatrick, Pat Darin, Abraham Lincoln, and William
Gooding medallions, drop the William Gooding from that rectangle.
You now only have the three medallions of Abraham Lincoln, Pat
Darin, and Patrick Fitzpatrick.
What shape does the connection of these three medallions make?
Be specific.
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Find the distance between the Patrick Fitzpatrick medallion and
the Abraham Lincoln medallion WITHOUT measuring. What
theorem will you use to find this distance?
4. Find the statue of Abraham Lincoln, and once you do, will
notice that it is surrounded by a circle. If you were a surveyor
hired to measure the circumference of the circle, how would you
go about doing it? Imagine that you have to find the
circumference, but your tape measure is just short of measuring
from one end of the circle to the other. What distance would you
measure? Measure that distance and find the circumference of
that circle using that measurement. Use the back of this sheet to
complete your work if needed.