Fuel Up! – Road Trip Ratio Challenge
In this interactive worksheet, students step into the role of a 13-year-old trip planner tasked with organizing their family’s 1,250-mile road trip to Yellowstone National Park. The challenge? Choose the most cost-effective rental car by analyzing fuel efficiency, rental rates, and overall trip costs.
Students begin with realistic vehicle data, including total miles traveled and gallons of fuel used on past trips. They’ll compute unit rates (miles per gallon), calculate total gallons needed for the upcoming journey, and determine total fuel expenses based on fluctuating gas prices. They'll also factor in rental costs to arrive at the complete cost for each vehicle option.
Along the way, students engage in problem-solving, percent increase calculations (e.g., a mid-trip fuel price hike), and critical thinking as they justify their final car selection.
This worksheet emphasizes unit rate mastery, multi-step ratio reasoning, and real-life decision-making. With built-in randomization, each student receives unique data, encouraging independent thinking and eliminating answer sharing.
Perfect for reinforcing 7th grade ratio and proportional relationship standards, this worksheet blends math and life skills into a meaningful, applied learning experience.
Learning Objective
Students will apply their understanding of unit rates and proportional relationships to solve a real-world problem involving travel and fuel efficiency. By analyzing trip data from past vehicle usage, they will compute unit rates (miles per gallon), use these rates to determine fuel needs for a 1,250-mile journey, and calculate total trip costs by incorporating rental fees and fuel expenses. Students will also explore percent increases in fuel prices and justify their vehicle selection based on both cost and reasoning.
Randomization Prompt
To promote individualized learning and discourage copying, this worksheet uses randomized values for each student. Key data points such as miles traveled, gallons of fuel used, rental rates, and fuel prices are automatically varied for each student. As a result, students will compute unique unit rates, total fuel costs, and final trip decisions, ensuring that every learner engages with their own personalized version of the problem.
