The Shoe Flip: Playground Swing Set

Edition
Measuring and Graphing Distance
Context
On a hot summers day in June, the students and I were celebrating the last day of school with
an extended recess. With no obligations to attend to, I decided to spend this last recess outside
with the students, enjoying their company and and watching the students bask in the joy of
knowing that summer break was about to begin. As I watched two of my students on the swing
set, I noticed that they were jubilantly swinging, flipping their shoes off of their feet and seeing
how far they could be tossed. I watched the repetitive actions as the students gained momentum
and the swings rose higher and higher, as they flung the shoes off of their feet, and as they
jumped off the swing to retrieve their shoes. After each shoe-flinging, I noticed the boys would
jump off of the swing and engage in some benign disagreement that began to escalate after each
consecutive shoe-fling. I decided to intervene and see what was the matter. The first student
approached and accused his friend of saying that his shoe had traveled further even though that
was not the case. The other student then interjected and said that his shoe really had traveled
further and brought me over to view the two, recently-flung shoes. Since the shoes were far
apart, it was relatively difficult to determine which shoe had actually been flung a further
distance than the other. I decided to use this opportunity to conduct an investigation to see how
much further one shoe had gone than the other and whether or not the types of shoes impacted
the distance traveled by each shoe.

Interest
This situation peaked my interest because it seemed like an investigation that would deeply engage
students based on its relevancy to an 8-year-old. Second-graders, and most students in the
elementary grades, are deeply concerned with issues of fairness and justice. Although this is a
scaled-down issue concerning fairness, it likely seems like a very important issue that must be dealt
with when determining whose shoes did indeed travel farther once they were propelled off of their
feet. It is also important that students realize that issues, such as this one, can be solved using
mathematical means and that a concrete answer can be discovered upon applying their
mathematical knowledge to real-world situations.

The Investigation
In order to solve this shoe-flinging mystery, the students will sit on their swings and begin
swinging until they are swinging in tandem. They will then be asked to release their shoes at the
count of 3, once they have established an identical rhythm. Once the shoes are released,
students will measure the distance from the front of the swing to the back of the shoe where it
landed using yard sticks placed end to end (if need be). Students shoes may be flung a distance
that warrants the use of a measuring tool besides a yard stick, such as a ruler or measuring tape.
Students will have to choose which tool is the most helpful tool to use when measuring the
distances of their shoes.

Example: Diagram showing swings and the distance traveled by each

students shoe; measured using rulers placed end to end.

Shoe 1

rulers
______________|_____________|__________

Swing 1

Shoe 2
______________|_____________

Swing 2
Once the students measure the distance from beneath the swing to their
shoes, they will write this down on a data recording sheet. They will repeat
this process 5-10 more times, depending on how engaged the students
remain throughout the measuring process. Students will use the recording
sheet below to record their data:

Try
1

Try
2

Try
3

Try
4

Try
5

Try
6

Try
7

Try
8

Try
9

Try
10

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

Tool
used:

As an
extension
to this
activity, I
added a

Tool used row to the data recording sheet so students can choose which
measuring tool that they used to measure the distance that their shoe
traveled from the front of the swing to the shoe. Second grade students
should be able to choose an appropriate measuring tool when measuring

distances and lengths of different objects. They should also be able to use
the measuring tool accurately when measuring.

Generalizations
In many second grade classrooms, students measure objects that are found
within the classroom walls or partake in measurement activities within the
classroom. Through this activity, students develop a contextual framework
for measurement outside the classroom walls and within a non-academic
environment. This helps student to develop the following generalization
about measurement: objects outside of the classroom environment are
measurable using the tools, skills and concepts taught within the school
walls.