MARYLAND MATH

FOR OLYA

There are several sites on the web that give interesting facts and statistics about Maryland. Unfortunately, Maryland, like the rest of the United States, has avoided using the metric system, so the information will need to be converted to become meaningful for you. Children here learn the metric system but since they seldom have a reason to use it, they rarely develop a true understanding or learn to "think" metric.

I have located several sites with information about our state. We would certainly appreciate your help in looking at this information using the terminology used in Russia. Would you help us convert inches to centimeters, miles to kilometers, acres to hectares, dollars to rubles, and Fahrenheit to Celsius?

Your first visit is to the MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

  • Under the POPULATION heading, find the population density in square miles and convert it to hectares.
  • In the section entitled LOCATION, the distance from central Maryland to several major cities is given in miles. Which major city is the closest? Which is the farthest away? Convert the distances to each of these two cities to kilometers. If you lived in central Maryland, how long do you think it would take to travel to each of these cities? Remember, the average speed limit on most Maryland roads is 55 miles per hour.
  • Now, go to the section called PHYSIOGRAPHY. The mean elevation is given in feet. Convert it to meters. How do you calculate the "mean" of a given set of data? What is the name of the point of highest elevation? How high is it in kilometers?
  • Under the section called AREA, convert the area of the Chesapeake Bay and the total area of Maryland to square kilometers. What percentage of Maryland is land? Explain how you determined your answer.
  • Look at the section called CLIMATE. Convert the average rainfall and snowfall to centimeters. Then convert the average annual temperature, the average highs and the average lows to Celsius. How do these statistics compare with the statistics for where you live? Make a graph comparing the two.
  • The section on the CHESAPEAKE BAY will tell you how long that bay is in miles. Convert this to kilometers.
  • Finally, under the section called ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, find the average per pupil expenditure. If you can locate the necessary information, make a graph showing a comparison of this figure to the average per pupil expenditure where you live.

    Now for your next stop on the web, go to the WELCOME TO MARYLAND page.

    You will see the state flower and the state bird there. Do you know their names? The history link will help you with this and other interesting facts about Maryland. You will also find a time line of Maryland History at that location. The state bird was given its name by George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, when he noticed large flocks of them during a visit to the area in the 1600's. He noticed that their coloring was the same as the orange and black coloring of the Calvert family coat of arms. These birds are about seven or eight inches long. How long are they in centimeters?

    Now click on the words, MARYLAND IS FUN . When you arrive at the MARYLAND IS FUN page, convert the following distances to kilometers.
    a) from the cannon to the sailboat
    b) from the train to the crab
    c) from the lighthouse to the cannon

    Now that you have finished all of that hard work, go to the Maryland Home Page and sign our guest book!

    This was authored by Myrna Dyson
    Patricia A. Weeg
    pweeg@shore.intercom.net
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