Math In Disney Math In Disney World!World!

By: Tabitha EdwardsBy: Tabitha Edwards

I Love Math!I Love Math!

I love math so I love math so much because much because math is always all math is always all around you. It’s around you. It’s even around you even around you when you are at when you are at Disney World!Disney World!

The Plan…The Plan…

My Mom, Mike, my friend Ashley and I My Mom, Mike, my friend Ashley and I all planned to go to Disney World all planned to go to Disney World together and have so much fun! But together and have so much fun! But before we went we had to plan out before we went we had to plan out our trip… our trip…

We would have 4 days to plan for. So We would have 4 days to plan for. So we came up with a plan… we came up with a plan…

The Details…The Details…

We decided that we were going to take:We decided that we were going to take: 1 day to get to Disney World 1 day to get to Disney World 1 day to spend in Disney World and have 1 day to spend in Disney World and have

a blast! a blast! 2 days to go shopping for stuff to 2 days to go shopping for stuff to

remember the trip.remember the trip.So how do you think you could show a So how do you think you could show a

comparison between what we do with comparison between what we do with the day(s) to how many days there are the day(s) to how many days there are total?total?

Could Fractions Work?Could Fractions Work?

Do you think fractions would work for Do you think fractions would work for showing this relationship between the showing this relationship between the days? If you think yes… you would be days? If you think yes… you would be right! Keep in mind that the numerator is right! Keep in mind that the numerator is the number (or day in this case) that we the number (or day in this case) that we are using for something, and the are using for something, and the denominator is the number (amount of denominator is the number (amount of days) that we have to work with, the total.days) that we have to work with, the total.

So let’s see how showing our days as So let’s see how showing our days as fractions would look like.fractions would look like.

Beginning of FractionsBeginning of Fractions

1 day out of a total of 4 days is going to be spent in getting to 1 day out of a total of 4 days is going to be spent in getting to Disney World:Disney World:

1 day getting to Disney World1 day getting to Disney World Numerator (what we use) Numerator (what we use)

4 days total we have 4 days total we have Denominator (what we have total) Denominator (what we have total)

1 day out of a total of 4 days is going to be spent in Disney 1 day out of a total of 4 days is going to be spent in Disney World:World:

1 day in Disney World1 day in Disney World Numerator Numerator

4 days total we have 4 days total we have Denominator Denominator

Beginning of Fractions Beginning of Fractions ContinuedContinued

2 days out of a total of 4 days is going to be 2 days out of a total of 4 days is going to be spent shopping:spent shopping:

2 days of shopping2 days of shopping Numerator Numerator 4 days total we have 4 days total we have Denominator Denominator

This is how I think about the days and how This is how I think about the days and how we are going to use them. we are going to use them.

In terms of fractions we are using 2 out of In terms of fractions we are using 2 out of our 4 days we have available to shop. This our 4 days we have available to shop. This is what a fraction means. is what a fraction means.

So…So…

So now that we figured out what a fraction So now that we figured out what a fraction means and how we could use it.means and how we could use it.

Off to Disney World Mom, Mike, Ashley, Off to Disney World Mom, Mike, Ashley, and I go!and I go!

Math is Everywhere in Disney Math is Everywhere in Disney World!World!

I first found that out I first found that out when I saw when I saw Cinderella’s Castle. Cinderella’s Castle. Then I began to Then I began to wonder… wonder…

How many towers it How many towers it took to make the took to make the castle?castle?

I counted…I counted…

Twelve Towers!Twelve Towers!

I found 12 towers. But I found 12 towers. But one out of the twelve one out of the twelve towers is much taller towers is much taller than the rest. What than the rest. What portion is the tallest portion is the tallest tower to the rest of tower to the rest of the towers? the towers?

Is there a way you can Is there a way you can show or explain the show or explain the comparison to me?comparison to me?

Fractions!Fractions!

The fact that 1 out of The fact that 1 out of a total of 12 towers a total of 12 towers is taller than the is taller than the rest than that rest than that means 1 out of 12 means 1 out of 12 towers is the tallest. towers is the tallest. If you thought that If you thought that the best way to the best way to show this show this explanation is 1/12explanation is 1/12thth then you were right!then you were right!

A Visit to Minnie MouseA Visit to Minnie Mouse

After I visited the After I visited the castle I went to visit castle I went to visit Minnie Mouse! I Minnie Mouse! I asked Minnie how asked Minnie how many whole white many whole white polka dots are on polka dots are on your dress? your dress?

Minnie told me that in Minnie told me that in 1/4th of her dress 1/4th of her dress there are 15 whole there are 15 whole white polka dots.white polka dots.

ConfusionConfusion

I didn’t quite understand what Minnie I didn’t quite understand what Minnie meant by that so I tried to think of meant by that so I tried to think of the problem in another way… the problem in another way…

¼ has 15 whole white polka ¼ has 15 whole white polka dots.dots.

Let’s think about Let’s think about this.this.

1 out of 4 sections 1 out of 4 sections of her dress has of her dress has exactly 15 whole exactly 15 whole white polka dots. white polka dots.

So how could we So how could we solve the problem?solve the problem?

http://www.dressaday.com/081306_OrangePolkaDotDress4.jpghttp://www.dressaday.com/081306_OrangePolkaDotDress4.jpg

Let’s solve the problem!Let’s solve the problem!

So after thinking about the problem, I began So after thinking about the problem, I began to figure out how many polka dots are on to figure out how many polka dots are on her dress altogether knowing that there her dress altogether knowing that there are 15 dots in 1 out of 4 sections of her are 15 dots in 1 out of 4 sections of her dress. How would you figure this problem dress. How would you figure this problem out?out?

• There are 15 whole white polka dots There are 15 whole white polka dots in ¼ of Minnie Mouse’s dress. How in ¼ of Minnie Mouse’s dress. How many of these dots are there in all on many of these dots are there in all on her dress?her dress?

You could…You could…

*You know there are 15 dots in every ¼ or *You know there are 15 dots in every ¼ or a quarter section of her dress. And it a quarter section of her dress. And it takes 4 sections of her dress to make it takes 4 sections of her dress to make it whole- 4/4= 1 whole dress.whole- 4/4= 1 whole dress.

¼+¼ +¼ + ¼= 4/4 (1 whole dress)¼+¼ +¼ + ¼= 4/4 (1 whole dress)

15+15+ 15+ 15= 60 whole white polka 15+15+ 15+ 15= 60 whole white polka dotsdots

60 Whole White Polka Dots!60 Whole White Polka Dots!

Here’s How You Do it!Here’s How You Do it!

Off to Sherwood Forest!Off to Sherwood Forest!

After I said bye to After I said bye to Minnie I went to Minnie I went to see Friar Tuck and see Friar Tuck and Robin Hood to Robin Hood to show them the new show them the new Mickey Mouse ears Mickey Mouse ears I had earned from I had earned from Mickey.Mickey.

That’s a lot of ears!That’s a lot of ears!

When my mom took the picture she When my mom took the picture she said that there are 8 sets (or pairs) of said that there are 8 sets (or pairs) of ears including my own personal pair ears including my own personal pair and my new Mickey ears. and my new Mickey ears.

• Then she asked me Then she asked me how many how many brown ears are there out of the 8 brown ears are there out of the 8 ears she counted?ears she counted?

How Many Brown Ears Did You How Many Brown Ears Did You Find?Find?

When I looked at the When I looked at the picture I saw that picture I saw that Friar Tuck, Robin Friar Tuck, Robin Hood, and I (my Hood, and I (my personal pair that I personal pair that I already had) all had already had) all had brown ears. The brown ears. The only ears that only ears that weren’t brown were weren’t brown were my black Mickey my black Mickey Mouse ears. Mouse ears.

What to do?What to do?

So… what can you do to show these So… what can you do to show these relationships between our ears? How relationships between our ears? How would you show how many brown would you show how many brown ears there are all together out of the ears there are all together out of the total 8 ears that there originally are? total 8 ears that there originally are? How would you show how many How would you show how many black ears out of the total 8 ears black ears out of the total 8 ears there are?there are?

You could… You could…

Could we use fractions to show the relationship? Could we use fractions to show the relationship? Yes! How would we use fractions? Yes! How would we use fractions?

You could…You could…Friar Tuck+ Robin Hood+ Me= Brown EarsFriar Tuck+ Robin Hood+ Me= Brown Ears 2/8 + 2/8 + 2/8= 6/8= ¾2/8 + 2/8 + 2/8= 6/8= ¾ (we all have 2 ears each, add them together (we all have 2 ears each, add them together

and there are 6 out of 8 brown ears all and there are 6 out of 8 brown ears all together). And ¾ is the same as 6/8 it is just together). And ¾ is the same as 6/8 it is just shown in a different way. It is an equivalent shown in a different way. It is an equivalent fraction!fraction!

Brown EarsBrown Ears

See… Me, Robin Hood, See… Me, Robin Hood, and Friar Tuck all have and Friar Tuck all have 2 brown ears each 2 brown ears each which adds up to a which adds up to a total of 6 brown ears total of 6 brown ears out of 8 brown ears out of 8 brown ears 6/86/8thth. But you can . But you can reduce it to ¾ . How reduce it to ¾ . How can you do this? Well can you do this? Well there are 4 pairs of there are 4 pairs of ears, and 3 out of the 4 ears, and 3 out of the 4 pairs are brown. So ¾ pairs are brown. So ¾ are brown.are brown.

Brown ears vs. Black earsBrown ears vs. Black ears

So since there are a So since there are a total of 6/8total of 6/8thth or 3 or 3 out of 4 pairs of out of 4 pairs of brown ears in our brown ears in our picture… how picture… how many black ears many black ears are there?are there?

Black EarsBlack Ears

• We could… We could… 2 out of the 8 ears are 2 out of the 8 ears are

black, so 2/8black, so 2/8thth are are black ears or we could black ears or we could also say that 1 pair also say that 1 pair out of the 4 total pairs out of the 4 total pairs of ears are black ears of ears are black ears or ¼ . That’s how or ¼ . That’s how many black ears there many black ears there are!are!

Souvenir time!Souvenir time!

After saying bye to Friar Tuck and After saying bye to Friar Tuck and Robin Hood, we all went to a Disney Robin Hood, we all went to a Disney shop to buy a souvenir. Mom gave shop to buy a souvenir. Mom gave me $28 and told me that I could me $28 and told me that I could spend ¾ of it but the other ¼ had to spend ¾ of it but the other ¼ had to be put away into my savings jar. be put away into my savings jar.

• So I thought to myself, what is ¾ So I thought to myself, what is ¾ of $28? What do you think it is? of $28? What do you think it is? How would you figure it out?How would you figure it out?

You could…You could…

So I have $28 and I can spend only ¾ of it. So if I So I have $28 and I can spend only ¾ of it. So if I separate the $28 into separate and equal groups separate the $28 into separate and equal groups of 4 dollars it will be easier for me to figure out of 4 dollars it will be easier for me to figure out how much of the 28 dollars I can spend. I end up how much of the 28 dollars I can spend. I end up with 7 equal groups of 4 dollars. Now if I take 3 with 7 equal groups of 4 dollars. Now if I take 3 of the 4 dollars out of every equal group of 4 I will of the 4 dollars out of every equal group of 4 I will know how much I can spend. After counting up know how much I can spend. After counting up together how many dollars I took out of the 7 together how many dollars I took out of the 7 groups of 4 dollars I come up with 21 dollars.groups of 4 dollars I come up with 21 dollars.

So I can spend $21 on a souvenir, that is ¾ of my So I can spend $21 on a souvenir, that is ¾ of my original $28. original $28.

Here is a visual way of doing the problem.Here is a visual way of doing the problem.

Donald or Tigger?Donald or Tigger?

So now that I know So now that I know how much I can how much I can spend I went to go spend I went to go and pick out a and pick out a souvenir. When I souvenir. When I got there I had to got there I had to choose between a choose between a plush Donald Duck plush Donald Duck or a plush Tigger.or a plush Tigger.

Donald costs $15.75 Donald costs $15.75 and Tigger costs and Tigger costs $18.20.$18.20.

http://www.embroiderymaster.com/Website_Images/Baby/TiggerPlush3.jpg

A Dilemma…A Dilemma…

So here is the dilemma, based on how So here is the dilemma, based on how much Donald and Tigger cost and much Donald and Tigger cost and how much money I have I want to how much money I have I want to keep as much change as possible. keep as much change as possible.

• Which purchase will leave me Which purchase will leave me with more change? What will the with more change? What will the change difference be between change difference be between what Donald costs and what what Donald costs and what Tigger costs?Tigger costs?

You could…You could…$21 is how much I can spend.$21 is how much I can spend.

Donald costs $15.75. Donald costs $15.75.

Tigger costs $18.20.Tigger costs $18.20.

Which is better and what is the difference?Which is better and what is the difference?

$21.00 $21.00 $05.25$21.00 $21.00 $05.25

-$15.75-$15.75 - -$18.20$18.20 -$02.80-$02.80

$05.25 $02.80 $02.45$05.25 $02.80 $02.45

Change with Change with The Change with Change with The DifferenceDifference

Donald TiggerDonald Tigger

And the winner is…And the winner is…

So since I am able to So since I am able to have $5.25 as have $5.25 as change with buying change with buying Donald Duck. Donald Duck. Drum roll please… I Drum roll please… I choose Donald choose Donald Duck. But don’t Duck. But don’t worry Tigger, I will worry Tigger, I will buy you next time.buy you next time.

All Good Things Must Come to an All Good Things Must Come to an End.End.

Well we visited Cinderella’s Castle. Well we visited Cinderella’s Castle. We talked fashion with a sweet Minnie We talked fashion with a sweet Minnie

Mouse.Mouse.We counted ears with Friar Tuck and We counted ears with Friar Tuck and

Robin Hood.Robin Hood.And we compared prices with Donald And we compared prices with Donald

and Tigger.and Tigger.Boy I had a great time, did you? I Boy I had a great time, did you? I

hope you did. hope you did.

So It Seems We Have So It Seems We Have reached…reached…

ResourcesResources

Tigger picture-Tigger picture-

Minnie Polka Dot DressMinnie Polka Dot Dresshttp://www.dressaday.com/http://www.dressaday.com/

081306_OrangePolkaDotDress4.jpg081306_OrangePolkaDotDress4.jpgDonald Duck Picture taken by my Donald Duck Picture taken by my

roommate Amanda Torres.roommate Amanda Torres.Rest of the Disney World pictures Rest of the Disney World pictures

were taken by me. were taken by me.

http://www.embroiderymaster.com/Website_Images/Baby/TiggerPlush3.jpg