This three-part example illustrates the use of iteration, recursion, and algebra to model and analyze
the changing amount of medicine in an athlete’s body. This example is adapted from High School
Mathematics at Work, a publication from the National Research Council (1998, p. 80). These activities allow high school students to study modeling in greater depth, as described in the Algebra Standard. In this part, Modeling the Situation, an interactive environment is used to become familiar
with the parameters involved and the range of results that can be obtained. In the second part, Long-Term Effect, the interactive environment is used to investigate how changing parameter values affects the stabilization level of
medicine in the body. In the third part, Graphing the Situation, an interactive graphical analysis provides a visual interpretation of the results. Through multiple representations of a common concept, better insight into, and a deeper understanding of, the problem situation can be achieved.
Individual Lessons
Lesson 1 - Modeling the Situation
This three-part example illustrates the use of iteration, recursion, and algebra to model and analyze
the changing amount of medicine in an athlete's body. This example is adapted from High School
Mathematics at Work, a publication from the National Research Council (1998, p. 80). These activities allow high school students to study modeling in greater depth, as described in the Algebra Standard. In this part, Modeling the Situation, an interactive environment is used to become familiar
with the parameters involved and the range of results that can be obtained. In the second part, Long-Term Effect, the interactive environment is used to investigate how changing parameter values affects the stabilization level of
medicine in the body. In the third part, Graphing the Situation, an interactive graphical analysis provides a visual interpretation of the results. Through multiple representations of a common concept, better insight into, and a deeper understanding of, the problem situation can be achieved.
Lesson 2 - Long-Term Effect
This three-part example illustrates the use of iteration, recursion, and algebra to model and analyze the changing amount of medicine in an athlete's body. This example is adapted from High School Mathematics at
Work, a publication from the National Research Council (1998, p. 80). These activities
allow high school students to study modeling in greater depth, as described in the Algebra Standard. In the first part, Modeling the Situation, an interactive environment is used to become
familiar with the parameters involved and the range of results that can be obtained. In this part, Long-Term Effect, the interactive environment is used to investigate how changing parameter values affects the stabilization level of medicine in the body. In the third part, Graphing the Situation, an interactive graphical analysis provides a visual interpretation of the results. Through multiple representations of a common concept, better insight into, and a deeper understanding of, the problem situation can be achieved.
Lesson 3 - Graphing the Situation
This three-part example illustrates the use of iteration, recursion, and algebra to model and analyze the changing amount of medicine in an athlete's body. This example is adapted from High School Mathematics
at Work, a publication from the National Research Council (1998, p. 80). These activities allow high school students to study modeling in greater depth, as described in the Algebra Standard. In the first part, Modeling the Situation, an interactive environment is used to become familiar with the parameters involved and the range of results that can be obtained. In the second part, Long-Term Effect, the interactive environment is used to investigate how changing parameter values affects the stabilization level of medicine in the body. In this part, Graphing the Situation, an interactive graphical analysis provides a visual interpretation of the results. Through multiple representations of a common concept, better insight into, and a deeper understanding of, the problem situation can be achieved.
