Lisa says, "I think we should walk 6 blocks north and 5 blocks west to get to the store." Kara says, "No, I think it's shorter if we walk 3 blocks west, 4 blocks north, 2 blocks west, and then 2 more blocks north." Whose route is the shortest?

To solve this, let's break down each person's route and compare the total distance they walk.

### Lisa's Route:
- Walk 6 blocks north and 5 blocks west.
- The total distance Lisa walks is:
  \[
  6 + 5 = 11 \text{ blocks.}
  \]

### Kara's Route:
- Walk 3 blocks west, 4 blocks north, 2 blocks west, and 2 more blocks north.
- The total distance Kara walks is:
  \[
  3 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 11 \text{ blocks.}
  \]

### Conclusion:
Both Lisa and Kara walk the same total distance: 11 blocks.

Thus, **neither route is shorter**—they both result in the same total distance of 11 blocks.

Would you like a detailed explanation of why their routes are the same? Here are some related questions:

1. How can we use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the straight-line distance between the start and end point?
2. What if the routes took diagonal shortcuts—how would the distance change?
3. How can grid distances be optimized for shortest routes?
4. What would happen if the blocks were not of equal size—how would that affect the answer?
5. What are some other real-world examples of comparing routes on a grid?

**Tip:** The shortest path between two points on a grid is always a straight line, but in a grid system, you can walk along the edges, so the shortest path is the sum of blocks.

Lisa says, 'I think we should walk 6 blocks north and 5 blocks west to get to the store.' Kara says, 'No, I think it's shorter if we walk 3 blocks west, 4 blocks north, 2 blocks west, and then 2 more blocks north.' Whose route is the shortest?

Compare two walking routes in a grid system and learn how to calculate the total distance. Both Lisa and Kara's routes cover 11 blocks, demonstrating that different paths can result in the same total distance. This problem is suitable for students in Grades 5-7.

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