Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Infographic: World Trade Center Reborn

As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 draws near, we'll be hearing a lot about the World Trade Center. This infographic from history.com is filled with facts and figures about the rebuilding of the new World Trade Center.

Whether or not you decide to use this infographic for creating math problems, the information on this infographic shows numerous ways that math is used and needed in the "Real World". You could use it to have a discussion about how engineers and construction workers use math every day.

The section about who's involved in the rebuilding efforts demonstrates how many people and organizations are needed to take on such a huge project. What a great way to start a discussion about teamwork! 

Below the infographic, you'll find some possible math questions that could be asked based on the information about the new World Trade Center.


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A few possible math questions that come to mind from this infographic: 

---"MORE THAN 2,500 WORKERS ON AN AVERAGE DAY" 

What do they mean by average? How would they figure out this value? 

---"Each pool holds up to 450,000 gallons of water, which is enough to fill 50 Empire State Buildings to capacity." 

How did they determine the capacity of the Empire State Building? What other mathematical vocabulary word could be used to replace the world capacity? 

___"Total Weight OF ALL TREES IS 7,500 TONS...THAT'S HALF THE WEIGHT OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE AND 30 TIMES THE WEIGHT OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY." 

How many times more does the Brooklyn Bridge weigh than the Statue of Liberty? 

---"Each pool features a 30-foot man-made waterfall, the largest in North America." 

If the reflecting pools are square, what is the approximate area of the base of each pool? Why wouldn't this be the exact area of the base? (hint: look at the picture) 

---"71 ELEVATORS Five are high-speed express cars moving at 2,000 feet per minute, or almost 23 mph. 45 SECONDS TO THE TOP" 

How many feet will the high-speed elevator travel if it takes 45 seconds for it to go from the ground to the top? 

---"2.6 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF FLOOR SPACE...104 FLOORS" 

What is the average number of square feet of floor space per floor of the building? 


How would you use this infographic?  Leave a comment and share your ideas.

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