Joe's Tiny New York

Joe Macken is a truck driver from upstate New York. Back in 2004, when he was 41, he went into his basement with some balsa wood and started carving a tiny version of New York City, one building at a time. His finished model is now on display at the Museum of the City of New York. In this activity, students practice division, scale, and area using Joe's model (e.g., estimating how many buildings he carved per day and how tall the Empire State Building is on his model, etc.). 

📝Suitable for Grades 4-6
⏰ Minimum 30 minutes

Note:  A ruler for Q3 and a measuring tape for Q4 are needed. Q4 also works well done together as a class (in this case, you will only need one measuring tape for the entire class).
 

Image: He Built This City: Joe Macken's Model, Photo by David Lurvey for MCNY