U.S. Flag – noticing and wondering

In this task, students develop their own strategies for calculating and using percentages in order to find measurements on a U.S. flag.

 

I wonder if the flag is drawn to scale.
I notice that the stars form rows alternating between 6 and 5 stars.
I notice the stars form diagonal patterns of odd numbers of stars (1, 3, 5, 7 9, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1).
I wonder what the percentage of the flag the white (or red) stripes are.
I notice that there is one more red stripe than white.
I wonder what the percentage of the whole flag the area of the blue rectangle is.
I wonder if I will need to make any measurements in order to calculate the percentages.
I wonder if I need to know the area of the flag in order to calculate the percentages.
I notice (by measuring) that the top stripe is 60% as long as the top of the flag.
I wonder what the area of each star is.
I wonder if there is enough information for me to determine all of the length measurements in the flag.

 

adapted from Advanced Common Core Math Explorations: Ratios, Proportions, and Similarity (p. 91–92) by Jerry Burkhart.
Copyright 2016, Prufrock Press:
 Waco, TX. Reproduced with permission.