Math-Sci-Guy

Students graph distances to various galaxies vs their speeds, and infer a direct relationship between the two. Skills Practiced: graphing, reviewing the main graph types, applying math concepts to real life

This is a single page (front & back) of fill-in-the-blank notes for teaching high school students how to identify the transformations of functions by looking at the equation. The answer key is included. Please do not re-post this on-line for others, and only give paper copies of the blank version to students. (Writing things by hand vastly improves memory & recall - make them fill in the blanks themselves!) Note: After this lesson, I assign the odd numbered questions from this worksheet

In this laboratory activity, students will use a loop of string and two tacks to draw one circle and four different ellipses. They will then measure the focal distance and major axis of each of these, and use this data to calculate the eccentricity of each ellipse (and the circle). The analysis questions lead students to discover the overall patterns and apply the knowledge learned in this activity to planetary orbits. Note: Parts of the lab refer to the ESRT. This is New York State's Earth

This worksheet gives a graph (showing the temperatures of soil and water as they heat & cool) and asks students to calculate the rates of change on various intervals. The handout is printable in black/white/grey, and the answer key is attached (answers are filled-in in color). This worksheet is suitable for an Earth Science class as an application of specific heats and rates of heating/cooling, or a Math class as practice reading graphs and calculating slopes.

This printout gives students an opportunity to explore a (possibly) real-life situation, empirically determine the minimum number of moves required to accomplish the task, then gather the data and find a pattern to describe it. The activity is completely printable (which also gives students the opportunity to do something with their hands (cutting) and lets them practice fine motor coordination, though if you want to spice it up students could cut discs out of corrugated cardboard (