Can you find the MATH in your every day

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Can you find the MATH in your every day?

• Slope Unit
• Covering Standards EA- 4.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6, and
  5.7

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Little Notes from the authors

• Time we tried not to assign YOUR time in the
  unit overview due to the differences between
  traditional and block scheduling. As one part
  ends, just let another begin.
• Teacher prompts we give prompts, but we only
  intend these to be suggestions.
• Worksheets and rubrics we offer these, but feel
  free to make them your own.

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Pre-Skills Assessment

• You do not have to use this, because it is not IN
  our 4E X 2. We are moving into this slope unit
  after the students have been introduced to
  graphing functions on graphing calculators. They
  can identify a function, graph a function and
  verify their results with a graphing calculator.
  We designed this for groups of two.
• Teacher see worksheet Pre-skills assessment

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• Before getting started, have your students in
  groups. Our resources that we offer work around
  groups of three, but you may vary them as needed.
  Here are the hyperlinks to the various cellular
  companies if you need to research plans in order
  to add a plan to our worksheets.
• Alltel http//www.alltel.com/personal/wireless/p
  lans/plans_individual.html
• Sprint http//nextelonline.nextel.com/NASApp/onl
  inestore/en/Action/DisplayPlans
• T-Mobile http//www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/
• Verizon - http//www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store
  /controller?itemplanFirstactionviewPlanListsor
  tOptionpriceSorttypeId1subTypeId1catId323

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1, Engage What do you know about cellular phone
plans?

• Teacher This will vary with every class. Give
  them a piece of paper for them to jot down what
  they know individually about cell phone plans.
  Then, in their groups, combine what they know.
  Now, as a class, you will highlight the
  similarities. You are wanting to focus in on the
  idea that if you go over on minutes, it will cost
  .

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2, Explore What do you know about cellular
phone plans?

• With the students in their group, hand out the
  phone plans. Each group will get a different
  carrier. Each person within that carrier should
  pick their own plan, to explore what happens when
  they have overage. Every student should receive
  their own Inquiry into phone bills worksheet.
• Teacher See worksheets
• Phone Plans- Inquiry into phone bills.

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3, Explain What do you know about cellular
phone plans?

• The groups will display their data.
• At this time, it depends on what the students
  give you. We want to investigate data through a
  table and a graph. If one group gives any of
  this, we lead each group to give us this
  information. They will add this to their existing
  data, we want one graph per group with each plan
  a different line. The students explaining their
  data will lead the them to the next explore
  writing a linear equation.
• Teacher prompts Once all groups have a graph
  and table on display, you can ask for any
  similarities and differences. Where does your
  data start? Does your data end? What is
  realistic? How many points did you pick and why?
  Is this data linear? What about predicting
  their bill. Could they do this with their graph?
  

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2, Explore Writing linear equations.

• Teacher see worksheet Explore writing linear
  equations. We want the students to realize that
  they have seen these types of equations, and are
  capable of writing their own equations.
• After individual/group exploration, have at least
  one equation written on their graphs to share
  with the class. Let these equations be incorrect
  if they are. We will address their thoughts in
  the next explain writing linear equations.
• Teacher prompts What do you need in an
  equation? () What could you have on each side
  of the equality sign?

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3, Explain Linear equations(This is mostly
teacher oriented.)

• As a teacher, identify their variables, their
  base plan cost, and their constant rate of change
  in their given equations.
• Teacher prompts Ask them what makes a line? (
  at least 2 points ) What do you need for a
  point? ( an x and y coordinate) Do you have two
  points? What are they? If you plug these points
  in, will your equation still be true? These are
  some questions to help identify their variables.
  
• If they leave out the base plan cost, you could
  ask them all you owe the phone company is
  overage? Where is your initial cost in your
  equation? These are some questions to help
  identify the y-intercept.
• To help them identify the constant rate of
  change, you could point at a graph and ask, What
  is different between these two lines? What made
  them different or steeper?
• Now, we introduce the slope-intercept form of the
  equation of a line and using the procedure
  to find slope.
• Teacher see worksheet Explain writing linear
  equations homework.
• (This may be a time that you assign problems from
  their textbooks or other resources.)

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4, Extend To the x-intercept.

• Teacher Our equation includes a y variable, a
  slope, an x variable, and a y-intercept. What is
  the y-intercept? (an ordered pair, )
  
• We want to lead to the fact that the x coordinate
  is zero in the y-intercept, so that we can lead
  them into the next explore concerning the
  x-intercept.

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2, Explore The x-intercept

• Teacher Look again at your graph. Find the
  coordinates of the x-intercept.
• Teacher prompt This explore may need more
  prompting as you walk around the room.
• You can reflect back to the fact that the
  x-coordinate is zero in the y-intercept. (0, y)
  What would you think would be true of an
  x-intercept? How would we write the x-intercept?
  How would we find the x-intercept from an
  equation?

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3, Explain The x-intercept

• The groups will add at least one of their
  x-intercepts to their graphs by the ordered pair.
• They will explain how they found it.
• Teacher Does this x-intercept make sense in our
  problem?
• We discuss as a class, that this x-intercept does
  not make sense in this situation, because we will
  never have negative minutes.
• Teacher see worksheet Explain x-intercept.

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4, Extend x-intercept makes sense

• Teacher In groups, we ask the students to find a
  situation/problem, where the x-intercept does
  make sense. This will lead them into the next
  explore x-intercept makes sense.
• Teacher prompts In order for your y-coordinate
  to be zero, (x,0), your x-axis will have to
  represent a situation that can either start at
  zero, or become zero. What kind of variables can
  be zero? (money, temperatures, time, sea level,
  )

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2, Explore x-intercept makes sense

• Now, individually, the student will write this
  situation into a problem, make a table, and
  transfer this into a graph. This individual work
  will be assessed. You may want to supply the
  paper, but we have not supplied a worksheet,
  because we want to see how the student will
  present the problem and data.
• Teacher see assessment create your own linear
  scenario rubric
• Teacher prompts Weekly pay checks and wages, a
  submarine is built and lowered into the water, a
  scuba diver entering the water, paying back a
  loan over time (paying your parents back for your
  overage), temperatures,

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3, Explain x-intercept makes sense

• You can use this last explain to tie in the
  textbook and the EOC. We have tried to offer
  worksheets that give them some exposure to what
  the EOC might have. You can point out the
  effects of changes in slope and the y-intercept
  on the graph of

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• Our goal for this slope unit was to have our
  students realize that a linear equation is
  nothing more than figuring out how much trouble
  they are going to be in for going over 62 minutes
  on their cell plan.
• We hope it works!
• Thank you in advance for any feedback,
• Julie Davis (Berea High), Jason Fellers
  (Woodmont High), Elaine Romano (Greer High), and
  Becky Bryant (Greenville High)