DiscoverARelationship UnitObjective:Thestudentexplainshowthevaluesof a and b affectthegraphofthelinearfunction y = ax + b . LessonObjective:Bytheendofthelesson,studentswillbeabletoexplainthataaffectstheslope,or steepnessofthegraphandthatbaffectsthelocationoftheyinterceptbyexperimentingwiththe interactiveprogramandcompletetheminiexperiment.

Thiswillbedonethroughmanipulationofthe valuesof a and b toobtaindifferentgraphsforthelinearfunction f (x) = ax + b

Endofpreviousclass:Studentsaretoldthattheywillbemeetinginthecomputerlabforthenextclass. Remindersforthelesson:Postareminderontheclassroomdoortogotothelab. Beginningofclass:(10Minutes) Homeworkcollected Studentslogontotheirindividualcomputers,LinearFunctionsTaskSheet(Part1)ishanded out,andinstructordoesaquickchecktomakesurethatstudentshaverequisitematerials. StudentsaretheninstructedtosilentlyreadthefollowingdirectionsforGettingStartedontheir tasksheets. Computersarealreadyopenedtothesitehttp://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3520,and

theprogramisopenedtotheLinearsetting. TheInstructorintroducesandexplainsthedifferentbuttons/optionsonthewebsite. Thisisaandthisisb. Thisbuttonchangesaandthisonechangesb. Thisishowyougetanewline. Etc... Instructordemonstratesanexampleofgeneratingalineandthenmatchingadifferentlinetoit,or howtomanipulatetheredlinetomatchtheblueline.Thuscreatingagreenline.

Firstchangevaluesofbonlyuntilinterceptsmatch. Next,changevaluesofaonlyuntiltheslopesmatch.
Studentswillfollowalongwiththedirectionsastheinstructordemonstratesthemontheprojector. Thestudentstake2minutestofamiliarizethemselveswiththeactivityandoptionsavailableonthe website. Whenitstimetobegintheactivity,havestudentsselecttheNewbuttonontherightto generateafreshgraph.

Experimenting:(15Minutes) Studentswillthencarefullyreadandfollowtheinstructionslistedonthetasksheettocomplete theactivity. Theinstructorwillcirculateamongthedeskstokeepstudentsontask,lookingforgood responsestohowthechangingofaandbaffecttheblueline.Theseresponseswillbeusedin theclassdiscussion.

 Oncefifteenminutesareup,orwhenthemajorityoftheclasshavefinishedPartOneofthe tasksheet,theclasswillstopworkingaclassdiscussionwillbegin. ReflectingandExplaining:(10Minutes) Selectedstudentswillbecalledontosharetheirobservationsoftheeffectofaandbonthe blueline. Studentswilldiscuss,asaclass,whattheyfoundduringtheirexperimentation. Whateffectdidahaveontheline? Whateffectdidbhaveontheline?

Asneeded,theinstructorwillaskpromptingquestionswhichcanthenbereferredbacktointhe nextphaseofthelesson.

HypothesizingandArticulating:(15Minutes)
Studentsareaskedtohypothesisehowaandbaffectthegraphicalrepresentationoftheequation y = ax + b . Mentiontostudentsthatthelinecanalsobewrittenas f (x) = ax + b . Theyworkonthisasteamsoffourtosixstudents.Theteamsarepreassigned. Readdirectionsforbothpartsasaclass. Taylor,whatarewegoingtodofirst? Hypothesize. Lia,whatarewegoingtodosecond? Testourhypothesis. Sam,whohastowriteitdown? Everyone. Studentswillfirstwriteahypothesisabouthow a affectsthegraph. (5minuteslater)Ifyouhaventalready,startwritingyourhypothesisforhow b affectsthegraph. (5minuteslater)Ifyouhaventalready,starttestingyourhypothesisonthefunctionsinquestion 2. Whiletheteamsareworking,selecttwohypothesestobesharedwiththeclass. Onefortheroleofa Onefortheroleofb

VerifyingandRefining:(15Minutes) Havetheteamswhosehypothesesyouselectedcomeoneatatimetotheboard,andexplain theirhypothesistotheclass. Specificquestionswillbeaskedtofocusthestudentsonwhataandbdo.Examples: Whatdoesthegraphlooklikeif a > 0 ? Whatdoesthegraphlooklikeif a < 0 ? Whatdoesthegraphlooklikeif a isverysmall? Whatifitisverylarge? Whatdoesthegraphlooklikeif b > 0 ? Whatdoesthegraphlooklikeif b < 0 ?

 Defineaastheslopeandverifyhowitaffectstheangleoftheline.
Verifybygraphingy=xseveraltimes,witheachtimehavingadifferentslopeof1,,2, ,and3. Definebastheinterceptandverifythatitindicateswherethelinecrossestheyaxis. Verifybygraphingy=xseveraltimes,witheachtimehavingadifferentinterceptpointof 0,1,1,2,and3.

CloseofClass:(5Minutes) Homeworkassigned Classdismissed

MiniExperiment Prompt: Youaregiventhefollowinglines: y = x, y = 2x + 1, y = x + 1, y = 2x, y=xandy=x+1. Sketchagraphofeachlineonthegraphbelow.Usedifferentcolorsforeachline.

Howiseachlinerelated? Whatissimilaranddifferentabouteachline? ObserversRubric:10pointspossible +6forgraphingeachlinecorrectly +1forsketchinglinesindifferentcolors. +1forexplainingthattheslopeschangethestepnessoftheline +1formentioningthatthey=intercept,orb,changeswherethelinepassesthroughtheyaxis +1formentioningthatthelinesareallthesame,justdifferentslopesandintercepts.

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 1)

For this activity you will need: - A pencil - A sheet of graphing paper - A computer

Name:______________________________

Getting Started: 1. Sit at at computer. 2. On the left-hand side of the graph, under Choose Type, make sure that Linear (the second option) is selected. 3. When instructed, take 2 minutes to familiarize yourself with the options available to you on the website. 4. When its time to begin the activity, click the New button on the right to generate a fresh graph. You will try to match a provided red line to a given blue line by altering the values a, b in a linear function of the form y = ax + b . This will create a green line. Activity: 1. Each time you generate a new graph, you can see that the red line starts with the same equation. What is the equation of the red line?

y= _____ x + ______

In this equation, a = _____ , b = _____

2. Generate a new blue line, and copy the graph of that blue line onto your graph paper. (Do not draw the red line) 3. Beside the graph, write each step you take to make the red line match the blue line, and how each step changed the red line. a. First, change the values of b and describe what that did to the red line. b. Then, change the values of a and describe what that did to the red line. Some questions to think about while you are writing: What if b < 0 ? What does the graph look like if b > 0 ? What if a < 0 ? What does the graph look like if a > 0 ? What does the graph look like if a is very small? What if it is very large? 4. Once you have matched the red and blue lines, the line will turn green. Write down the equation of the green line, beside the graph, in the form y = ax + b .

Repeat steps 2-4 for two more graphs. You will turn in the task sheet at the end of class. Graph One What steps did you take? How did they affect the red line?

What is the equation of the green line?

Graph Two What steps did you take? How did they affect the red line?

What is the equation of the green line?

Graph Three What steps did you take? How did they affect the red line?

What is the equation of the green line?

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 2) Team 1

Name:______________________________

1. As a group, propose a hypothesis of how a and b affect the line formed by graphing f (x) = ax + b .

2. Use this hypothesis, sketch four graphs of the equation y=2x: two graph showing how a affects the line, and two graphs showing how b affects the line. Write down the lines new equation. A. y=

B. y=

C. y=

D. y =

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 2) Team 2

Name:______________________________

1. As a group, propose a hypothesis of how a and b affect the line formed by graphing f (x) = ax + b ..

2. Use this hypothesis, sketch four graphs of the equation y=x: two graph showing how a affects the line, and two graphs showing how b affects the line. Write down the lines new equation. A. y=

B. y=

C. y=

D. y =

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 2) Team 3

Name:______________________________

1. As a group, propose a hypothesis of how a and b affect the line formed by graphing f (x) = ax + b. .

2. Use this hypothesis, sketch four graphs of the equation y=x+3: two graph showing how a affects the line, and two graphs showing how b affects the line. Write down the lines new equation. A. y=

B. y=

C. y=

D. y =

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 2) Team 4

Name:______________________________

1. As a group, propose a hypothesis of how a and b affect the line formed by graphing f (x) = ax + b .

2. Use this hypothesis, sketch four graphs of the equation y=x-2: two graph showing how a affects the line, and two graphs showing how b affects the line. Write down the lines new equation. A. y= B. y=

C. y=

D. y =

Linear Functions Task Sheet (Part 2) Team 5

Name:______________________________

1. As a group, propose a hypothesis of how a and b affect the line formed by graphing f (x) = ax + b ..

2. Use this hypothesis, sketch four graphs of the equation y=x: two graph showing how a affects the line, and two graphs showing how b affects the line. Write down the lines new equation. A. y= B. y=

C. y=

D. y =

SnowfallMiniExperiment: 1)WhenLeilawokeup,shelookedoutherwindowandnoticedthatithadbeensnowing.Itwas thefirststormfortheyearandtherewasalready2inchesofsnowontheground.WhenLailaleftfor schoolanhourlater,shemeasuredthedepthat4inches.Fivehourslater,itmeasured12inches. Usingthisinformationandthegraphpaperbelow,createagraphofthestoryofthestorm.Besureto labeltheaxisandpoints.Writeanequationthatwillrepresentsyourgraph.

 Equation: 2)Jaredlives20minutesawayfromLaila.Herecordeddifferentsnowtotalsforthissnowstorm duringthesametimeframeasLaila.Graphthefollowingtotalsonthesamegraphaboveforthesnow thatfellwhereJaredlivesifb=1anda=2.5.Examineyougraphandprovideananswerforthe followingquestions. A. HowmuchsnowwasonthegroundatJaredshouseifb=1? B. HowmanyinchesdoesitsnowperhouratJaredshouseifa=2.5? C. WhatistheequationthatrepresentsthesnowfallatJaredshouse? D. HowmanyhoursdoesittakeforthesameamountofsnowtobeonthegroundatLailasand Jaredshouses? E. Whathappenedtoyourgraphwhenyouchangethevaluesofaandb? F. Ifweweretalkingaboutsnowmeltingwhichvaluewhichvaluewouldbenegative,aorb? G. Howdothevaluesofaaffectthegraphofthelinearfunctionf(x)=ax+b? H. Howdothevaluesofbaffectthegraphofthelinearfunctionf(x)=ax+b? ObserversRubric:12pointspossible +2forcreatingacorrectgraphicalrepresentationofsnowstormforLailashouse +1forlabelinggraphcorrectly +1forthecorrectequationforLailassnowtotals +2forcreatingacorrectgraphicalrepresentationofsnowstormforJaredshouse +.5foransweringcorrectly:HowmuchsnowwasonthegroundatJaredshouseifb=1? +.5foransweringcorrectly:HowmanyinchesdoesitsnowperhouratJaredshouseifa=2.5? +1forthecorrectequationforJaredssnowtotals +.5foransweringcorrectly:Howmanyhoursdoesittakeforthesameamountofsnowtobeon thegroundatLailasandJaredshouses? +1foransweringcorrectly:Whathappenedtoyourgraphwhenyouchangethevaluesofaandb? +1.5foransweringcorrectly:Ifweweretalkingaboutsnowmeltingwhichvaluewhichvaluewouldbe negative,aorb? +1foransweringcorrectly:Howdothevaluesofaaffectthegraphofthelinearfunctionf(x)=ax+b? +1foransweringcorrectly:Howdothevaluesofbaffectthegraphofthelinearfunctionf(x)=ax+b?