Math Man

This activity, designed for first year Algebra students, shows a practical, relevant application for linear equations. Students will model the cost of a monthly cable bill and model the cost of a streaming device. Students will solve a system of equations to help decide which TV viewing experience is right for them, and when the steaming package will have paid for itself.

In this activity by Mr. McDevitt, students will graph data that compares a MLB player’s season home run total with his age. Students will use regression to find the best fitting function for the data and graph the function by finding the vertex. Students will also interpret the vertex. We will use the quadratic formula and compare to the x-intercepts of our graph and finally make a prediction about a current player's career.

This is a standard deck of 52 playing cards where instead of the four suits you have the four ways of representing a function, and instead of giving the number of each card students have to figure out the card number by finding the slope. With these cards students can play games they already know and enjoy and do some algebra at the same time. These cards deal strictly with linear functions.