Six map pages, each a different made-up town on a grid where one square is one kilometer. Page 1 shows how radar works in three steps: one distance from a lookout puts the sleigh somewhere on a circle (worked as an example), a second distance cuts that down to the two points where the circles cross, and a third distance leaves one house. Pages 2 to 4 give four radar sightings each, with the time and the sleigh's distance from each of three lookouts: draw a circle round each lookout with that radius, find the house where all three circles meet, write its number, then join the houses in time order to draw the sleigh's path. Page 2 then asks which way the sleigh flew, page 3 how long it was from the first sighting to the last, and page 4, where every house is on a grid point, how far each hop was. Page 5 has only two lookouts, so each pair of circles crosses twice, and a clue (north of the river, on Holly Lane, next to the park) picks the house; then students name the house a clue ruled out. Page 6 turns it round: the stops are marked, and students measure each one's distance from each lookout, then say which lookout was closest at one time. The first sighting on pages 2 to 6 is worked as an example. Every page has a radar strip to cut out, printed at the map's scale: push a pencil point through hole 0 on the lookout, put a second pencil in the hole for the distance and turn it round.
Before page 1, stand one student at the front of the room and say "the sleigh is three steps from me": students who are three steps away make a circle. Add a second student and a second distance, and only two spots work; a third leaves one. Pairs work well on the maps, one turning the strip and one holding it still, and a compass works just as well as the strip.
Draw a map of your street on squared paper, mark three places you know, and hide a small toy. Give the distances from the three places in squares and let someone find it with circles.
This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
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Santa's sleigh is somewhere over town, and three radar lookouts each know how far away it is. Students draw a circle round each lookout, find the house where the circles meet, and join the houses in time order to draw the sleigh's path.
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