Computer Lab Activities
Western Frontier: A Math Hunt Activity
Settlers, explorers, gold prospectors — students meet them all while gathering facts to solve math problems about the wild, wild West!
- Grades: 3–5, 6–8
In “Western Frontier” (grades 5–8), an online learning activity from Scholastic’s Math Hunt series, students go on an online fact-finding mission to answer five math questions about the Oregon Trail, the coast-to-coast railroad, the Pony Express, and more.
In addition to challenging students’ reading comprehension skills, “Western Frontier” tests these “math hunting” skills:
- Decimals & Percentages
- Multiplication/Division
- Ratio & Proportion
Sample question: What was Pony Bob's speed while carrying Lincoln's Address? (Hint: Round to the nearest hundredth.)
a. 14.41 miles per hour
b. 14.45 miles per hour
c. 14.50 miles per hour
Learning Objectives
By participating in Math Hunt, students will:
- Practice problem-solving skills from the grade 5–8 math curriculum
- Explore topics from the grades 5–8 science and social studies curriculum
- Learn basic Internet research skills
- Develop an understanding of the construction of standardized test questions and multiple-choice answers
Related Resources
Students set out on fact-finding missions that test math skills, provide practice researching on the Web, and boost reading comprehension.
- Subjects:Pilgrims, Content Area Reading, Reading Comprehension, Research Skills, Fractions and Decimals, Logic and Problem Solving, Multiplication and Division, Number Sense, Ratio, Proportion, Scale, Real-World Math, Word Problems, Pioneers, Communication and the Internet, Computers, Teaching with Technology
