Content Area: Math

 

Index: 4.3D Grade 8 CPI 3

 

Standard: 4.3 - Patterns and Algebra

 

Strand: D - Procedures

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 3 -  The student will solve simple linear inequalities.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Presented with the information that the Cape May-Lewes Ferry has space for 20 cars, and a bus takes up the space of 3 cars, students are asked to draw a graph which represents how many cars and how many buses can be taken across on one trip. Students use variables to represent the unknowns (x for cars and y for buses) and develop the inequality x+3y < 20 as a model for the situation. Recognizing that the solutions have to be whole numbers, they identify the points whose coefficients are non-negative integers and in the first quadrant on or below the line.

 

·        Students use a motion detector, connected to a calculator or computer, to record the motion of a ping-pong ball tossed by a small catapult. The motion detector is on the floor below the trajectory of the ball. Students note that the graph of distance against time is not linear. They experiment with different initial velocities and different release points to see how these affect the graph.