Concord Consortium
Systematic Solution I
Writing a general rule to model a specific pattern is a high-level skill. Your classes practice the important skill as they write rules describing the solutions to a system of equations with variable coefficients. As an added challenge,...
Curated OER
Using Linear Models
For this Algebra II worksheet, 11th graders examine models whose behavior can be described by a linear function. The four page worksheet contains explanation of topic, three guided problems, and eight practice problems. Answers are not...
EngageNY
Relationships Between Two Numerical Variables
Working in small groups and in pairs, classmates build an understanding of what types of relationships can be used to model individual scatter plots. The nonlinear scatter plots in this lesson on relationships between two numerical...
Inside Mathematics
Sorting Functions
Graph A goes with equation C, but table B. The short assessment task requires class members to match graphs with their corresponding tables, equations, and verbalized rules. Pupils then provide explanations on the process they used to...
Achieve
Ivy Smith Grows Up
Babies grow at an incredible rate! Demonstrate how to model growth using a linear function. Learners build the function from two data points, and then use the function to make predictions.
Curated OER
Systems of Equations and Inequalities
This is a comprehensive activity on creating and solving equations and systems of equations and inequalities. Problems range from basic linear equations to more complex systems of equations and inequalities based on a real-world...
Illustrative Mathematics
Delivering the Mail
A mail truck travels the same amount of miles per day. It will be up to your algebra learners to find an equation for this mailman’s truck. One needs a good understanding of rate of change and the initial value for this model. The...
Howard County Schools
To Babysit or Not to Babysit?
Would you work for a penny today? Use this activity to highlight the pattern of increase in an exponential function. Scholars compare two options of being paid: one linear and one exponential. Depending on the number of days worked, they...
Howard County Schools
Generous Aunt
Witness the power of exponential growth with an activity that investigates two different savings plans. Class members create tables of values to see how and when a savings plan increasing exponentially exceeds one increasing linearly.
EngageNY
Relationships Between Two Numerical Variables
Is there another way to view whether the data is linear or not? Class members work alone and in pairs to create scatter plots in order to determine whether there is a linear pattern or not. The exit ticket provides a quick way to...
Curated OER
Tale of the Tape
How can baseball and skeet-shooting be modeled mathematically? Sports lovers and young mathematicians learn how to use quadratic equations and systems of equations to model the flight paths of various objects.
Concord Consortium
It's In the Mail
It's time to check the mail! The task is to determine the most cost-effective way to mail a packet of information. Young scholars write an equation that models the amount of postage as a function of the number of sheets mailed and...
Balanced Assessment
Melons and Melon Juice
Model the difference between the graphs of discrete and continuous functions. Scholars examine two scenarios and construct graphs to model the situation. They then compare their graphs that illustrate the subtle difference between these...
Concord Consortium
Bill the Ball Bearing Man
Just how durable could a hollow ball bearing be? Learners model the strength of the walls of a ball bearing as a function of the radius of its cavity. They use their models to make reasonable conclusions about the probability of failure...
Inside Mathematics
Graphs (2004)
Show your pupils that perimeter is linear and area is quadratic in nature with a short assessment task that requests learners to connect the graph and equation to a description about perimeter or area. Scholars then provide a...
Curated OER
Get a Half Life!: Student Worksheet
Upper elementary or middle schoolers will explore non-linear functions, graphing, and the curve of best fit through real-life data collection and trial analysis. They explore the concept of half-life and radioactive decay using M&Ms,...
Inside Mathematics
Party
Thirty at the party won't cost any more than twenty-five. The assessment task provides a scenario for the cost of a party where the initial fee covers a given number of guests. The class determines the cost for specific numbers of guests...
California Education Partners
Speedy Texting
Model the effects of practice on texting speed. Pupils develop a linear equation that models the change in texting speed based on the amount of practice. The sixth performance task in an eight-part series requires learners to solve and...
Curated OER
Stochastic and Deterministic Modeling
Explore the difference between stochastic and deterministic modeling through programming. First have the class write algorithms for relatively simple tasks using pseudocode. Use the Python 2.7 program app to simulate Mendel's Pea Pod...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Sign of Solutions
Positive or negative, zero or no solution, are all possibilities for the solution of a linear equation. Here the resource gives examples of linear equations in one variable and their type of solutions. The resource comes with commentary...
Illustrative Mathematics
Tides
A very simple example of a functional relationship between depth of water and time is shown here. In fact, it might be more useful to use a coastal tide book to better illustrate this real-world experience. Pupils are to count the number...
Illustrative Mathematics
Downhill
A car traveling down a steep hill is the model for this resource. The confusion comes when the elevation, E, is given in terms of distance, d. The distance, d, is the horizontal distance from E. Therefore, the equation, E = 7500 – 250d,...
Inside Mathematics
House Prices
Mortgages, payments, and wages correlate with each other. The short assessment presents scatter plots for young mathematicians to interpret. Class members interpret the scatter plots of price versus payment and wage versus payment for...
EngageNY
Analyzing a Graph
Collaborative groups utilize their knowledge of parent functions and transformations to determine the equations associated with graphs. The graph is then related to the scenario it represents.