Using Taxi-Cab Geometry to develop counting methods

Using taxi cab geometry to find

a) the shortest path when sticking to gridlines

b) the number of shortest paths for a 3x4 grid.

The lesson is meant to focus on problem solving skills of using an easier situation, organization of data, and pattern recognition.

I use the problem to start the year in geometry to get students ready to explore and to set my "class use time" expectations.