Related Rates Related to You

We did these problems today in AP Calculus.  Part of the problem I have with related rates questions is most of the time they seem so contrived and impractical.  Like, why do I care what rate the radius of the balloon is increasing given the rate the volume is increasing?  So, I had some fun with these types of problems.  The kids loved seeing their names in the stories.

I put them in groups and assigned one problem per group (making sure that if a student was in one of the word problems, s/he was in the group working that same question).  Answers are included so the kids could check themselves easily.  Then I had them make a poster.  These are some from last year:

Afterwards, I asked the students to read the other problems and then use the posters to write the solutions in their notebooks.

Here are the problems I used (I'm sure I stole several of them from other people, so let me know if I owe you credit).  I always change the names for each section.

Download here.