Task of the Week: Advertisement Pillar

From now on, a selected task from the MathCityMap portal will be presented weekly. These tasks will be collected under the category “Task of the Week” and illustrate the diverse mathematic and realistic usages of the MathCityMap project.

In this week, the focus is on the mathematic use of the advertisement pillar, exemplary included in the “Weihnachtstrail” in Frankfurt with task number 783.

Task: Advertisement Pillar

How many DIN A0  posters (84,1 cm x 116,9 cm) can be placed in portrait orientation and without overlapping?

To solve this task, it is necessary to measure the number of posters which can be placed in height and length. To do so, the perimeter and the height of the advertisement pillar have to be measured. Afterwards, the task can be solved with a multiplication. The task belongs to geometry, especially to the branches “space and shape” and “measuring” and can be used from grade 5. As it is asked for the number of posters, the solution must be a natural number.

This task is particularly suitable in terms of the MathCityMap concept as advertisement pillars exist in every city. Therefore, the task can be adapted easily and quickly to other surroundings which is underlined through the fact that similar tasks can be found in other trails as well. This task is an effective activity to do outdoor mathematics.