1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Alice Keeler is a mother of 5 and a teacher in Fresno, California. She has her B.A in Mathematics, M.S. in Educational Media Design and Technology and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology with an emphasis in games and simulations. EdTech speaker, blogger, and presenter. Founder of coffeecue, a 1 hour conference event for educators. New Media Consortium Horizon report advisory panel member. High school math teacher for 14 years. Currently teaching pre-service teachers curriculum, instruction and technology at California State University Fresno. Teaches online for Fresno Pacific University in the Masters in Educational Technology. Passionate that kids are not failures, researches gamification in education to increase student motivation.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Mathematics.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.BF.A.1 Write a function that describes a relationship between two quantities.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.CED.A.4 Rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9-10 texts and topics.

2. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?
© Phil Tifo/Tandem Stock
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?
Before Ashlu Creek meets the Squamish River in British Columbia, Canada, it cuts through a box canyon, bottle-necking and creating a series of churning rapids. Skilled kayakers are able to navigate the narrow passage. For those with less formidable constitutions, this image might be enough, as two thrill-seekers prepare to take on the foam.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?1
Web Search
What is a box canyon? 2
How is the flow of water in a river calculated? 3
Map Search
Use Bing maps to determine what parts of the Ashlu Creek river would cause a change in the rate of low of water. 4
Video Search
Find a video that describes rates of flow in a river. 5
Thinking
Write a mathematical expression that could be used to determine the effect of a box canyon on the rate of flow of water. Explain your thought process.
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?1
Web Search
What is a box canyon? 2
How is the flow of water in a river calculated? 3
Map Search
Use Bing maps to determine what parts of the Ashlu Creek river would cause a change in the rate of low of water. 4
Video Search
Find a video that describes rates of flow in a river. 5
Thinking
Write a mathematical expression that could be used to determine the effect of a box canyon on the rate of flow of water. Explain your thought process. 1 2 3 4 5
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?1
Web Search
What is a box canyon?
(Possible Search Query: “Box Canyon”)
Sources:
Wikipedia:
A box canyon does not need to refer to a river, however a river can be at the bottom of a canyon. Steep sides and a narrowing of the canyon will describe a box canyon.

8. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?2
Web Search
How is the flow of water in a river calculated?
(Possible Search Queries: “rate of flow of water”, “flow rate river calculator”)
Sources:
Wikipedia:
Diameter, Velocity & Flow Rate Ulta Calculator:
Open water flow rate:
E-how:
In calculating the flow of water through a pipe the rate is consistent given that the diameter of the pipe is consistent. In a river, the rate of flow varies as the depth and width of the river varies. To calculate the flow of water in a river you need to take some measurements at the section where you want to know the rate of flow. There are many factors that influence the rate of flow, including logs and uneven river beds, thus the calculations are an estimate. If the river bed floor is relatively even, the section of the river can resemble a rectangle of sorts. A cross section of the river would resemble a rectangle, thus the area can be calculated as the width of the river times the depth. The velocity of the water flowing through the river is calculated by the length of the section of river multiplied by the average time it took an object to travel that distance. If measured in feet and seconds this would give you the velocity in feet per second. Multiply the velocity by the cross sectional area.

9. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?3
Map Search
Use Bing maps to determine what parts of the Ashlu Creek river would cause a change in the rate of low of water.
(Possible Search Query: “Ashlu Creek”)
Students can use Bing map tools to place markers to identify wide and narrow places in the river. Students should include in the description what they expect to happen to the rate of flow at that point.

10. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?4
Video Search
Find a video that describes rates of flow in a river.
(Possible Search Queries: “Ashlu Creek”, “rate of flow river”, “rate of flow water rapids”)
Sources:

11. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?5
Thinking
Write a mathematical expression that could be used to determine the effect of a box canyon on the rate of flow of water. Explain your thought process.
(Possible Search Queries: “rate of water flow narrowing”)
Sources:
As the river narrows the surface area decreases. The volume of water going through the passageway would remain approximately the same.
Volume of water of the river = Volume of water at the box canyon.
Velocity * Width * Depth * Length of river segment = Velocity2 * Width2 * Depth2*Length of river segment
Assuming the river segments are the same, this can be removed from the formula.
Velocity * Width * Depth = Velocity2 * Width2 * Depth2
Dividing both side by the width and depth of the water at the narrowing portion
Velocity2 = Velocity*Width*Depth/(Width2*Depth2)
Since the river narrows, the cross sectional area (Width2*Depth2) would be smaller than the (Width*Depth). Thus the numerator of (Width*Depth)/(Width2*Depth) would be larger in the denominator. Multiplying his ratio by the original Velocity would result in a larger number for Velocity2, thus a higher rate of flow.

12. What effect does a box canyon have on the rate of flow of water?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.