Crazy Taxi

How much will it cost to travel 30 km?


No Expectations/Standards Selected
Ontario Alignment By Grade
Ontario Alignment By Overall Expectation
CCSS Alignment By Grade
CCSS Alignment By Standard

If you’re an educator on Twitter or other social media, you probably hear a lot about gamification. Well, when you don’t have a reasonable option to “gamify” your math class, you can always turn to finding the perplexing math in a game. This is where Crazy Taxi by Jon Orr comes in.

Act 1: Introducing the Task

This 3 Act Math Task begins with a scene from a “Grand Theft Auto-esque” video game where a man jumps into a taxi and begins what looks to be a joy-ride. The cost of the taxi ride and the distance travelled are displayed; yes, the foreshadowing is probably killing you.

Can’t see the video? Click here.

After travelling a few kilometres, the game fast forwards and asks the viewer to determine:

How much would it cost to travel 30 km?

Some key information include the initial value of $5 on the meter before the taxi begins moving and a rate of change of $0.50 per kilometre travelled.

Check out the portable document format (PDF) file below to grab a quick resource that asks the same question as well as an extension requiring the student to determine:

How far you could travel if you had a $50 bill in your pocket?

Grab resources here:

Crazy Taxi 3 Act Math Task Resource Template


Version 2:

Crazy Taxi 3 Act Math Task Template Compiled by Kyle Pearce

Here’s the Act 3 Video to reveal the missing information:

Jon also shared out this Google Drive folder that has the video showing how much it should cost.

Here’s a Knowledgehook Custom Gameshow I created to go with the Flaps! task and Crazy Taxi. Note the first half of the questions relate to Flaps!

Can’t see the custom gameshow above? Click here.


New to Using 3 Act Math Tasks?

Download the 2-page printable 3 Act Math Tip Sheet to ensure that you have the best start to your journey using 3 Act math Tasks to spark curiosity and fuel sense making in your math classroom!



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About Kyle Pearce

I’m Kyle Pearce and I am a former high school math teacher. I’m now the K-12 Mathematics Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board, where I uncover creative ways to spark curiosity and fuel sense making in mathematics. Read more.


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