Problem
While hiking, I wondered... hmmm... How many steps would it take to climb up Mt. Doug and back down? What's the distance from the foot to the summit of Mt. Doug? What's my step length? Let me find out! Ready, set, go!
Hypothesis

I think it would take 4,000 steps because by car, the odometer says 1.6 km. I measure my step length to be 0.4 m. I find: (Number of steps) = (Distance) / (Step length). I also have a hunch it'll take more steps coming down the mountain than up.

Procedure
So how do I start? 1 step at a time! I get my good runners, I clip on a pedometer, I grab a notebook and here I go! I climb Mt. Doug 3 times. Each time, I count the number of steps on my pedometer. I ask my parents to help me use a GPS unit. At the gate, half way and the summit, I record the time and distance taken that's on the GPS.

Results
I made a table and figured out these neat results:

1. Average number of steps up and down Mt. Doug = 4,385 steps.
2. Average number of steps to climb up (1,888) is way less than the average number of steps to come down (2,497).
3. My average step length = 0.48 meters.
4. My average step length climbing up is bigger than what it takes coming down.

Hmmm... why? People take smaller steps coming down so we don't fall!

Conclusion
I had a lot of fun figuring out math on my favourite mountain. I also learned you might have trouble or errors when measuring. The pedometer just wasn't sensitive when I walked up the mountain. It worked a lot better coming down. Sometimes you just got to stomp like crazy! Like when you're crazy 4 math!