Roll of Thunder

Check Point 1: Distance, Ratios, Rates, and Percents

Cassie had to walk 1 hour every day just to get to school. In order to understand Cassie’s
experience and the injustice involved answer the following questions.

1. The average person can walk 1 mile in 20 minutes. At this rate how many miles did
Cassie walk to school each day? Be sure to include a table, double number line, or tape
diagram to explain your answer.

1 hour = 60 minutes
1 mile 20 minutes
3 miles 60 minutes

Cassie walked 3 miles everyday to school. I know that 1 hour = 60 minutes

I used a table and a proportion to find how many miles Cassie walked.
1/x = 20/60 = 3 miles.

2. The average Truesdell student lives 1 ½ miles away from school. How long would it take the
average Truesdell student to walk to school considering the average distance and walking rate?
Be sure to include a table, double number line, or tape diagram to explain your answer.

It would take 30 minutes for a student in Truesdell to walk here. I know this
because I made a table to figure out how many ½ minutes equal the
minutes which was 10 minutes so If I added 20 + 10 it would equal 30
minutes.

Miles ½ 1 1½

Minutes 10 20 30

3. The average driving speed in Washington DC is shown on the double number line below.

Miles 2 4 6 8

Minutes 10 20 30 40

At this rate how long would it take Cassie to get to school if she were allowed to ride the bus
like white students? Be sure to include a table, double number line, or tape diagram to explain
your answer.

2 miles 3 miles
10 minutes 15 minutes
We know that 3 miles are the miles it takes Cassie to go to school, so the
answer is 15 minutes on the school bus. I know this because I used a table
to find how long will it take 3 miles to school which was 15 minutes.

4. How long would it take a student to ride 1 ½ miles to Truesdell at the same rate? Express
your answer as a fraction in terms of hours.

Miles 1/2 1 1 1/2

hours 1/24 5/60= 1/12 3/24 = 1/8

5. How much time did the white students riding in the bus spend going to school in comparison
to Cassie? Express your answer as a percent. Be sure to use a proportion to support your
answer.

The answer is %25, I know this because I used a proportion and

percentages to find my answer. I know that 1 hour equals 60 minutes and it
takes Cassie 15 minutes to go to school in a bus so I used the proportion
15/60 = x/100 which was %25.

Reflection
After reading the book Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, and completing this math exercise about
the injustice that Cassie faced in the United States how does it make you feel? Do you think that
racism is an issue of the past, or does it still impact the United States. Explain your thinking.
Although much has changed in the United States since the Civil Rights
Movement that integrated schools for example, much has stayed the same
for example racism still exists in society. Latinos face discrimination
because of not speaking English. Police are more likely to stop a Latino or
African American person than a white person. People of color also get shot
by the police more often, and are imprisoned at higher rates. There is also
income inequality like for example white people in DC make $127,369 per
year as the median income whereas African Americans make only $37,891
according to a study done by Georgetown University. Cassie was openly
discriminated against, but now the racism is not as open but still there. This
assignment makes me feel happy and sad. I am happy that things are
better now than they were for Cassie. For example I can ride the bus to
school even though I am not white. It also makes me sad because there is
still racism in this country. My hope is that things will change and that I can
be apart of that change.