Content Area: Math

 

Index: 4.3D Grade 7 CPI 2

 

Standard: 4.3 - Patterns and Algebra

 

Strand: D - Procedures

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will solve simple linear equations informally and graphically

·        Multi-step, integer coefficients only (although answers may not be integers)

·        Using paper-and-pencil, calculators, graphing calculators, spreadsheets, and other technology

 

Grade: 7

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        The students perform an experiment to answer the question about how long it would take a wave to go around Veterans' Stadium. They gather data by timing waves done by a various numbers of people, plot the data, and determine the line of best fit using the median-median-line method. They determine the number of people that could sit around Veterans Stadium, but they discover that, unlike the previous data sets, they cannot use the graph to answer the question directly. The teacher explains that they need to determine an equation for the line. She has the students investigate functions of the form y=mx+b using a graphing calculator in order to develop the idea that m represents the slope and b represents the y-intercept.

 

·        Using a motion detector connected to a computer or graphing calculator, the teacher has students walk so that the distance from the detector plotted against time is a straight line. The teacher gives directions to students such as: Walk so that the line has a positive slope, Walk so that the slope is steeper than the last line, Walk so that the line has a slope of 0, or Walk so that the line has a negative slope.