Slope in our Society Investigations of Slope Elizabeth Thompson, PhD ALEX / GEMS Project Contribution

Have you ever seen a sign like this on the highway?  What do you think it is for?

Why would a driver need to see this sign?

Here is a picture of a run- away truck ramp.  Have you seen one before? Where?

Usually, a road sign expresses the grade (slope) of a road as a percent

If you had a ramp like this, how would you express it’s SLOPE as a percent? RISE = 3 RUN = 12

Wheelchair Ramps  Ramp steepness is governed by the American’s with Disabilities ACT.  ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG) are located at: board.gov/adaag/html/adaag. htm#4.8 board.gov/adaag/html/adaag. htm#4.8 board.gov/adaag/html/adaag. htm#4.8 How steep of a ramp should be acceptable for a person in a wheelchair?

Stairs are an excellent example of slope Most of us are familiar with associating ‘stairs’ with ‘slope’. Do you have any questions about finding the slope of stairs? You can place a board over any set of stairs and get a ramp, but would the slope always be acceptable for strollers and wheelchairs?

Using the Slope Formula when given 2 endpoints This is an X Lets make it our 1 st X This is a Y. Lets make it our 1 st Y Another X. It’s our 2 nd one. Another Y. Its our 2 nd one. Lets plug it in and solve for slope (m).

Use the following endpoints to calculate slope with the given formula. Could these lines be wheelchair ramps? Practice Problems: 1.(4,6) (-2,3) 2.(5,-7) (6,7) 3.(3,-2) (4,3)

ASSIGNMENT: Reporting on Safe Slopes in our School  See Handout:  Groups of 4-5