9-12
Students discover the algorithm for solving linear programming problems and gain conceptual understanding by solving a real-world problem and using graphing calculator applications.
9-12
In this lesson students will calculate terms of a geometric sequence to determine frequencies of the chromatic scale. They will then compare sine waves to see and hear the trigonometry behind harmonious and dissonant note combinations.
9-12
Students are presented with a problem: two bowls are suspended from the ceiling by springs. One bowl is lower than the other. In one bowl, you can only place marbles; in the other bowl, you can only place bingo chips. How many items must be placed in each bowl so that the heights of the bowls are the same?
9-12
In this lesson, students consider the costs of owning a car and ways to lessen those costs. In particular, highway and city mileage are considered, and optimal mileage is calculated using fuel consumption versus speed data.
9-12
By calculating the areas of regular polygons inscribed and circumscribed about a unit circle, students create an algorithm that generates the never-ending digits of π, a common curiosity among high school students.
9-12
Archimedes was the first mathematician to develop a converging series
approximation to π. That highly influential discovery guided the
development of calculus many hundreds of years later. However, his
method only gives lower and upper boundaries that form intervals known
to capture π, not a single numeric estimate of π. In this lesson,
students ask, “Where is π located in those intervals?” They also
discover an improvement to Archimedes' method that generates the
infinite digits of π more efficiently and accurately.
9-12
In this grades 9–12 activity, students write and solve a system of
linear equations in a real-world setting. Students should be familiar
with finding linear equations from 2 points or from the slope and
y-intercept.
Graphing calculators are not necessary for this activity, but could be
used to extend the ideas found on the second activity sheet. Parts of
this lesson plan were adapted from the October 1991 edition of
Mathematics Teacher.
9-12
To determine the function of best fit for a set of data, students
should recognize which category of function bests fit the data and know
how to use technology to obtain a function. This lesson teaches these
skills and prepares students for the subsequent lesson(s), in which
they will collect their own data.
6-8, 9-12
This lesson offers students a method for finding the slope of a line from its graph. The skills from this lesson can be applied as a tool to real-world examples of rate of change and slope.
9-12
This lesson offers examples of inverse variation. Students collect data and generate graphs before finding specific equations for inverse variation relationships and examining their graphs.
