Cat and Mouse Activity (SPH4C)

Name: Krishan Date: July 4th
Student Exploration: Cat and Mouse

(Modeling with Linear Systems)- Metric
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: slope, y-intercept
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Kristin is driving on the highway at 100 kilometers per hour. How long will it take Kristin to reach a rest area
150 kilometers away?
2. Kristin is 20 kilometers behind a truck that is driving 90 kilometers per hour. How long will it take her to
catch up to the truck? How far will she go in that time?
Time to catch up to truck: Distance traveled in that time:
Gizmo Warm-up
A small mouse plays on the floor, unaware of the cat creeping up on it
from behind. The cat springs and the mouse desperately runs away.
Will the mouse reach its hole in time to escape the cat?
The Cat and Mouse (Modeling with Linear Systems) Gizmo models this situation. In the Gizmo, you can drag
the sliders to adjust the speeds of the cat and mouse, as well as the head start of the mouse. (To quickly set a
slider to a given value, click the text field, type the new value, and hit Enter.) The time and distance of the cat
and mouse are shown on the graph.
1. On the CONTROLS tab, drag the Mouse: head start (meters) slider. What changes about the graph?
The y-value of the point where the line crosses the y-axis is the y-intercept of the line.
2. Drag the Mouse: average speed (meters per second) slider. What changes about the graph?
The steepness of the line is called the slope of the line.

3. Click Simulate. Does the cat catch the mouse?
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
Activity A:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Graph sense:
Slope and ● Click Refresh in your browser.
y-intercept
1. Experiment with a variety of settings for the mouse head start, mouse speed, and cat speed. For each
simulation, write down the settings you used, whether the cat captured the mouse, and when the capture
occurred. (If the mouse escaped, leave the last column blank.)
To find the time of the capture, turn on Show whether cat catches mouse.
Mouse: head start Mouse: speed Cat: speed Mouse

Time of capture
(meters) (meters/second) (meters/second) captured?
A. What is represented by the y-intercept of the blue line?
B. What does the slope of the blue line represent?
C. What does the slope of the red line represent?
D. What do the blue and red dots represent?
E. In each situation where the cat catches the mouse, what is true about the graph?
F. In each situation where the cat does not catch the mouse, what is true about the graph?
G. What do the coordinates of the green dot (the intersection point) tell you?
H. If the cat runs faster than the mouse, will it always catch the mouse?
Explain your answer.
2. The graph at right depicts a cat chasing a mouse. The lines show the
positions of the animals (or, distance from the cat’s starting point) over
time. The mouse is trying to reach its hole, at 20 meters.
Answer the questions below based on the graph.
A. The cat always starts at a position of 0 meters. Where does the
mouse start?
B. Where is each animal after 1 second?
Mouse: Cat:
C. What is the speed of each animal? Be sure to include units on your answers. (Hint: don’t forget to
factor in the mouse’s starting position.)
Mouse Speed: Cat Speed:
D. The slope of a line is equal to the change in y over change in x (or, “rise over run”). What are the
slopes of the two lines shown in the graph?
Slope of mouse’s line: Slope of cat’s line:
Notice that the slope of each line gives you the speed of each animal.
E. Did the cat catch the mouse? If so, at what time?
Check all of your answers using the Gizmo.
Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity B:
Interpreting tables ● Set Mouse: head start to 9m, Mouse: speed to 5 m/s, and
Cat: speed to 11 m/s.
1. Using the settings given above, take a look at the graph of the cat-and-mouse chase. Place your cursor on
the green point where the lines intersect. What does that point tell you?
The cat catches the mouse after seconds, after running meters.
2. You can also find (or estimate) that solution using the table. Select the TABLE tab. In the table, Dmouse
represents the distance of the mouse from the starting point, and Dcat represents the distance of the cat.
Below the table, check that the STEP is set to 0.10.
A. What must be true about Dmouse and Dcat at the moment the cat catches the mouse?
B. Scroll down through the table. When did the cat catch the mouse?
C. According to the table, at what position did the cat catch the mouse?
Click Simulate to see the chase and check your answers.

3. You can also use the table to measure the position and speed of the mouse
and cat. The table at right is missing a few values. Use the table to answer
the following questions.
A. What is the head start of the mouse?
B. How far does each animal move every 0.1 seconds?

Mouse: Cat:
C. What are their speeds in meters per second? Mouse: Cat:
D. When and where will the cat catch the mouse?

Use the Gizmo to check your answers
t (hrs) DBlonde DMalhomme

4. Jim Blonde and the evil Professor Malhomme are in a car chase.
Blonde has a 24-km lead and travels 148 km/h. Malhomme is going 0
156 km/h.
1
Fill in the table to determine when and where Malhomme will catch 2
up to Blonde. 3
4
Time: Distance:

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Name: Krishan Date: July 4th

Student Exploration: Cat and Mouse

Time to catch up to truck: Distance traveled in that time:

The steepness of the line is called the slope of the line.

Mouse: head start Mouse: speed Cat: speed Mouse

A. What is represented by the y-intercept of the blue line?

B. What does the slope of the blue line represent?

C. What does the slope of the red line represent?

D. What do the blue and red dots represent?

Explain your answer.

B. Where is each animal after 1 second?

Mouse Speed: Cat Speed:

Slope of mouse’s line: Slope of cat’s line:

E. Did the cat catch the mouse? If so, at what time?

Check all of your answers using the Gizmo.

Get the Gizmo ready:

Click Simulate to see the chase and check your answers.

A. What is the head start of the mouse?

B. How far does each animal move every 0.1 seconds?

C. What are their speeds in meters per second? Mouse: Cat:

D. When and where will the cat catch the mouse?

t (hrs) DBlonde DMalhomme

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