Purpose: Students will use geometric constructions to determine the appropriate location of a table for the contest to be fair.

Materials Needed: Ruler, compass/goniometer, mira.

All’s Fair

Each year during homecoming week the sophomore, junior, and senior classes have a whipped crème pie eating contest to win the chance of getting to throw a whipped crème pie at their principal. Four members of each class will be placed on the football field as shown on the diagram below. When the whistle is blown, one student at a time will race to the pie table, eat a pie, and dash back to tag the next student. The class that finishes eating all of their pies first WINS!!!! Where should the table with the pies be placed on the football field such that it will be a fair contest? There are two diagrams below. You are to use a mira to decide the fair location of the table for the first diagram and a compass and straight edge for the second diagram. Should the location be the same for both diagrams? ________________
Explain.___________________________________________________________________________

Lesson created by Lisa Willian, Hart County High School. Permission granted for classroom use only.  Adapted from Discovering Geometry by Michael Sierra, Key Curriculum Press.

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