Math Differently

This activity is designed to walk students through the entire process of Completing the Square. Students will use algebra tiles (or an interactive version online) to obtain a more concrete, visual understanding of Completing the Square and why it actually makes sense. The activity makes the process of completing the square no longer merely a procedural process that needs to be memorized. Through this activity, it instead becomes more like a puzzle that makes perfect sense. Included: -Teache

This activity walks students through the concept of piecewise functions, and introduces all aspects of the concept. Students must draw a piecewise graph based on a story they're given. Then, they need to write a story given a piecewise graph. They will have to cut and paste a piecewise function to truly understand the concept of it. Then, they will be walked through how to write a piecewise function given the graph. Next, they will be guided through the process of drawing graphs based on e

This activity, either done collaboratively or independently, was designed for students to discover the concept and purpose of the discriminant on their own. Using strategic questioning, the student worksheets walk students through the thinking necessary to grasp these concepts. Students tend to retain the content longer and understand it more deeply when they discover it themselves. Included: -A page describing the purpose and prior knowledge necessary to complete this activity -Student work

This activity requires critical thinking and provides a deeper understanding of the properties of quadratics. Students should work collaboratively and learn from group discussions. First, students are asked to determine the following properties after looking at a parabola: maximum/minimum, domain, range, vertex, axis of symmetry, number of y-intercepts and number of x-intercepts. Then, they are given a task card with a function and must graph it before answering the same questions. Next, the

Students thoroughly enjoy this activity as it brings competition and team work into the classroom. They really have fun competing and and working together. This document provides very detailed instructions on how the game works and how to best utilize it to maximize learning. Through this activity, students will understand the concept of function composition (which is generally a very difficult topic to conceptualize!) involving inputs with a variety of expressions. Includes: -Detailed ins

This is intended to serve as a review game for students once they know how to add, subtract, multiply, divide and compose functions. Materials provided: Game Board Deck of Function Cards (including some more advanced functions for a challenge) Teaching Suggestions Rules of the game: Provide each pair of students with a game board, a die, and a deck of cards. The key for the die is provided on the game board. The students flip over one card into the f(x) spot and one card into the g(x) s