Road Trip summative

The Hood family is on a road trip through California. On one route they drive
through Death Valley to Sequioa National Park. The Badwater Basin is 282 feet
below sea level, where Death Valley is located. Mt. Witney is the highest point in the
lower 48 states with 14,505 feet which is located in Sequioa National Park. Calum is
estimating from the map that the two places are only 85 miles apart as the crow
flies. He is wondering:
If you hike to the top of Mt. Witney, can you see Badwater Basin on a clear day?
Find an answer to Calum's question and support it with an appropriate
mathematical model.
(Note: Neglect the curvature of the earth. The bulk of the modeling occurs in the
process of visualizing the top of Mt. Witney at one end of the hypotenuse of a right
triangle and Badwater Basin at the other side of the hypotenuse.)
Students may consult a map or computer program to find out the terrain between
Mt. Witney and Badwater Basin. Draw a right triangle to model the situation.
Description
Rubric

Picture diagram
included

Point
Value
5

Neat/organized and
color attractive

10

Accurate calculations

15

Clear description of
how problem is
solved.

20

Points
Earned