Larry is setting up for a yard sale when William and
Annie, two neighborhood children, stop by to talk. William and Annie are
on Thanksgiving break and are bored. Larry tells them he may need some
helpers to prepare for his yard sale and that he may be able to pay them
for their help. Excited about the prospect of something to do, William and
Annie follow Larry into his garage as Larry begins to reminisce about jobs
he had when he was the children's age that allowed him to start earning
money for college. Larry tells about the time he and Jasper went into
business building custom birdhouses.
The story flashes back to 1968 where Jasper and Larry
are arguing inside Larry's grandfather's garage about their business's
delivery policy. Larry wants to charge customers for delivering the houses
and Jasper wants the delivery service to be free. Larry's grandfather, Mr.
Peterson, tells the boys that they are both right and they are both wrong.
Confused by his answer, Mr. Peterson explains that the boys should charge
for the time it takes to deliver a birdhouse, but not the same price for
everyone because it wouldn't be fair.
Larry asks his grandfather how they should figure out what is fair. Mr.
Peterson tells the boys "It's all in the tools you use." He tells the boys
that sometimes a smart plan is all the tool you need. As he begins to look
for his SMART Tools, a graph which shows the travel time to cover various
distances based on different means of transportation (walking, riding a
bike, riding in a truck), Emily rides up on her bicycle and calls the boys
out to share some exciting news with them.
While Mr. Peterson listens, Emily tells Larry and
Jasper about a contest being sponsored by a local travel agency. Emily
says the agency is looking for teens who show an aptitude for the travel
business. The contest winners will receive an all expense paid trip any
where in the country. Jasper suggests that the three teens should begin
studying geography in order to have an edge in the contest. Mr. Peterson
suggests that they should study his SMART Tools instead to understand
about travel time. The friends decide to ignore Mr. Peterson's advice and
study geography.
The three friends arrive at Trade Winds Travel for the preliminary round
of the contest. Mrs. Beasley, the agency secretary, gives Jasper a summary
sheet of the types of questions they will be asked. After a cursory look,
Jasper announces "We're doomed." None of the questions is about geography.
Instead, they are concerned with comparisons of car rental deals, fuel
costs, rates and times of travel and catching up to members of a party who
have a head start on a trip. As another group of students shuffles out of
the office, the three friends dejectedly shuffle in to try their luck.
The contest is arranged like a game show. Bob, the
shows host, explains that the contestants take turns answering questions
from four categories: Are We There Yet, Catch 'em If You Can, Beat This
Deal, and Burning Bucks. He tells the friends that efficiency is key. Then
he calls Emily on a phone and asks her how long it will take to travel
from Cumberland City to Albertville. As Emily fumbles with her question,
Bob calls Jasper and asks him a similar one. Jasper goes to the map and
also fumbles. The situation worsens. Each new question brings greater
confusion. Finally, the game ends and the friends retreat to Mr.
Peterson's house.
Mr. Peterson comes back from delivering birdhouses and observes that his
SMART Tool still works. Emily tells him he is a genius. She borrows his
SMART Tool and explains to the two boys that if they modify it, it's just
what they need to win the contest. Similar charts can quickly answer most
of the questions that the friends will need to know, but they must conduct
an experiment in order to make a graph that will answer problems where one
person needs to catch up to another.
The friends collect data about how long it took Larry
on his bike to catch up with Jasper if he gave Jasper a thirty minute head
start and rode 12 miles an hour while Jasper rode 8 miles an hour. Emily
charts Jasper's progress in miles as he rode and makes a line which
approximately connects the points on the graph while Larry makes a line on
an overlay which charts his progress. Emily then lays Larry's line over
the chart with Jasper's line and says that the two lines intersect at
ninety minutes. Larry announces that they really met after 92 minutes. The
chart works! The friends are now determined to make the SMART Tools
they'll need and to go back and win the contest.
Challenge
Create SMART Tools to help Larry, Jasper and Emily pass the final
interview.
You'll then recieve some questions to test your SMART Tools.
Larry is setting up for a yard sale when William and
Annie, two neighborhood children, stop by to talk. William and Annie are
on Thanksgiving break and are bored. Larry tells them he may need some
helpers to prepare for his yard sale and that he may be able to pay them
for their help. Excited about the prospect of something to do, William and
Annie follow Larry into his garage as Larry begins to reminisce about jobs
he had when he was the children's age that allowed him to start earning
money for college. Larry tells about the time he and Jasper went into
business building custom birdhouses.
The story flashes back to 1968 where Jasper and Larry
are arguing inside Larry's grandfather's garage about their business's
delivery policy. Larry wants to charge customers for delivering the houses
and Jasper wants the delivery service to be free. Larry's grandfather, Mr.
Peterson, tells the boys that they are both right and they are both wrong.
Confused by his answer, Mr. Peterson explains that the boys should charge
for the time it takes to deliver a birdhouse, but not the same price for
everyone because it wouldn't be fair.
While Mr. Peterson listens, Emily tells Larry and
Jasper about a contest being sponsored by a local travel agency. Emily
says the agency is looking for teens who show an aptitude for the travel
business. The contest winners will receive an all expense paid trip any
where in the country. Jasper suggests that the three teens should begin
studying geography in order to have an edge in the contest. Mr. Peterson
suggests that they should study his SMART Tools instead to understand
about travel time. The friends decide to ignore Mr. Peterson's advice and
study geography.
The contest is arranged like a game show. Bob, the
shows host, explains that the contestants take turns answering questions
from four categories: Are We There Yet, Catch 'em If You Can, Beat This
Deal, and Burning Bucks. He tells the friends that efficiency is key. Then
he calls Emily on a phone and asks her how long it will take to travel
from Cumberland City to Albertville. As Emily fumbles with her question,
Bob calls Jasper and asks him a similar one. Jasper goes to the map and
also fumbles. The situation worsens. Each new question brings greater
confusion. Finally, the game ends and the friends retreat to Mr.
Peterson's house.
The friends collect data about how long it took Larry
on his bike to catch up with Jasper if he gave Jasper a thirty minute head
start and rode 12 miles an hour while Jasper rode 8 miles an hour. Emily
charts Jasper's progress in miles as he rode and makes a line which
approximately connects the points on the graph while Larry makes a line on
an overlay which charts his progress. Emily then lays Larry's line over
the chart with Jasper's line and says that the two lines intersect at
ninety minutes. Larry announces that they really met after 92 minutes. The
chart works! The friends are now determined to make the SMART Tools
they'll need and to go back and win the contest.