Acceleration Word Problem

Niki, Elon, Kayla

Section 1

1. Scenario With Citations

Once upon a time, in a faraway land of monsters, a large group of monsters were
gathering for the biggest competition of year- the monster truck showdown. Two
monsters jumped into trucks and prepared for the big smash. They flipped the ignition
and started driving. The first monster raced down the left ramp, and the other went
down the right ramp5. The first truck, blue as the sky5, traveled 10 miles. After 5
minutes4, the truck comes to a halt1,2,3. The second truck, red as blood, speeded at 100
miles per hour and then stopped after 10 minutes2.

2. Scenario Without Citations

Once upon a time, in a faraway land of monsters, a large group of monsters were
gathering for the biggest competition of year- the monster truck showdown. Two
monsters jumped into trucks and prepared for the big smash. They flipped the ignition
and started driving. The first monster raced down the left ramp, and the other went
down the right ramp. The first truck, blue as the sky, traveled 10 miles. After 5 minutes,
the truck comes to a halt. The second truck, red as blood, speeded at 100 miles per
hour and then stopped after 10 minutes.

3. Questions for the Readers

1. What is another term for negative acceleration and provide an example of

it in the article provided.

2. Which truck in the article provided has a greater rate of acceleration as

compared to the other truck? Provide evidence to support your answer.

3. What term and/or phrase did the writer use in the article to imply that truck
is at rest, as in it’s not moving?

4. What two pieces of information did the writer include in the article that are
irrelevant and/or misleading to the reader, as in they are not useful in the
calculating either speed or acceleration?

4. Image to Accompany Text in Newspaper Article

5. Screenshot of the
Newspaper Article

6. Answer Key for “Questions

for the Readers”
1. Another term for negative acceleration is deceleration. An example of this
in the article is when the red truck starts at 100 miles per hour and then
comes to a halt after 7 minutes.
2. The red truck has a greater acceleration. The blue truck has an acceleration
of -0.4 mi/min2, and the red truck has an acceleration of -10 mi/min2. To
calculate the acceleration of the blue truck you have to first find the initial
speed. The initial speed of the blue truck is 10 miles divided by 5 minutes
which equals 2 mi/min. The final speed is 0 mi/min and the total time is 5
minutes. The acceleration of the first truck is 0 mi/min - 2 mi/min divided by
5 minutes which is -0.4 mi/min2. For the red truck, the initial speed is 100
mi/h, which is equal to 1.67 mi/min. The final speed is 0 mi/min, and the
total time is 10 minutes. The acceleration is 0 mi/min - 1.67 mi/min divided
by 10 minutes which is -0.167 mi/min2. Therefore, since -0.167 mi/min2 is
greater than -0.4 mi/min2, the red truck has a greater acceleration.
3. Terms that imply that the trucks are at rest are when the first truck ‘comes
to a halt’ and the second truck ‘stops’.
4. Two pieces of information in the article that were irrelevant are that the
trucks traveled on the left ramp and the right ramp and that they were blue
and red.