Overview

In this lesson, we develop a students sense of irrational numbers by looking at how to estimate square roots in the context of the area of a square. Students begin by examining perfect square numbers - being asked to find the side length of a square with a perfect square area. Students then graph the data and ponder the question of whether there exist squares with areas that are non perfect squares. Students develop the concept of the square root function and can look at the restrictions upon the domain in the context of area and length. Students also examine the accuracy as they add decimal places to their approximation. Students are asked to perform computations and verbalize their understanding.

What's Included

• Live Google Doc
• Link to Google Slide Show

Feel free to present this however you want. This can be given to students as a worksheet or use it as lecture notes.

Topics

• Area
• Graphing
• Perfect Squares
• Square Root Function
• Evaluating a square/square root function
• Solving a square/square root equation
• Domain and Range
• Restrictions upon the domain of square root function
• Irrational Numbers
• Approximation