Have A Great Vacation!

In a 22 minute class, we had enough time to correct homework and turn it in. We spent the remainder of the period singing science/math songs. In my humble opinion, it was the perfect way to end the week.

Happy Holidays! I hope you all have a restful and relaxing vacation. See you in January!

Tonight's Homework: None. However, several of you have promised to bring your Barbies and Kens so we can do an activity after the break. In addition, it might be a good idea to work on your extra credit report, since it will be due on January 9th.

Graphing Linear Equations to Solve Real World Problems

Being able to graph information is a skill that is not only advanced, but it can save time. Graphing linear equations will allow the student to interpolate and extrapolate to determine intermediate and extreme values of a given word problem. Extrapolated data is usually represented on a graph as a dotted line. Interpolated data is read from the graph of the line.

Tonight's Homework: Page 247 ( 1 - 19 all) and Lesson 4.7 ( 11 - 26, FCO and 46 - 48 ).

More About Lines and Graphing

Today, we reviewed the definition of parallel and perpendicular lines. We also added the word colinear to our vocabulary. Students will be responsible for knowing the definitions and proper spelling of these three words.

Tonight's Homework: Lesson 4.6 ( 52 - 56, 62 - 64, 69 - 70 and 74 - 77 ). Also, be working on Bernoull Was a Birdbrain and your Math in a Minute work, which is due by Friday.

Short Cut to Graphing Linear Equations Using the Slope-Intercept Form

After several days of working with graphing linear equations, we took some time today to discover that if the equation of a line is in function form (also known as slope-intercept form), information related to the y-intercept and the slope can be picked out of the equation and used to quickly sketch the line on a coordinate grid.

Remember, slope-intercept form is y = m x + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

Tonight's Homework: Lesson 4.6 ( 13 - 50, FCO ). Also, be sure to complete your Bernoulli Was a Birdbrain worksheet and your Math in a Minute paper by Friday at class time.

Math in a Minute and Locker Cleanout Day

Once again, I was at the University of Oregon, so class was taught by a guest teacher. Because yesterday's lesson was a little difficult to deliver, I decided to switch things up a bit and have students solve random math problems in an activity called "Math in a Minute". Class was abbreviated due to locker cleanout. I should be back in class on Monday.

Tonight's Homework: Page 224 ( 1 - 16) and Page 818 ( 1 - 8 ).

Direct Variations

As we continue our exploration of slope, we notice situations where y is directly related to x. We call this a direct variation. The x and y values, when graphed, create a line, and the slope of that line is the constant of variation.

Tonight's Homework: Lesson 4.5 ( 12 - 15, 21 - 28, 38 - 41 )

Finding a Point's Coordinate on a Line

Using what we learned yesterday about finding the slope, we extended our learning to using the slope equation to find a missing coordinate of a point when the slope, one point and one coordinate of the second point is known. It would be very helpful to review the end of section 4.4 to see how this is done if you weren't in class today. (Hi, Jocelyn! How's the mouth?)

Tonight's Homework: Lesson 4.4 ( 38 - 49, FCO, 52 - 54, and 67 - 69 )

The Slope of a Line

Lines come in many different forms. The four categories of lines include those with positive slopes, those with negative slopes, those with no slope (slope = zero) and those with undefined slopes (vertical lines). We learned that slope can be defined in many ways (ski slopes for the brave and chicken, rise over run, and by a formula). After several examples, students got to practice their equation solving abilities on the assigned homework.

Tonight's Homework: Lesson 4.4 ( 12 - 32, FCO and 35 - 37).

Positive and Negative Slopes of Lines

With the use of the handheld computers, students discovered how lines can be sloped in different directions and related this to the original equations of the lines. Students discovered lines with a positive x value slope in one general direction (from bottom left to top right) while equations with a negative x value slope in the opposite direction (from top left to bottom right). Equations with the same x value will be parallel.

Tonight's Homework: Page 233 ( 75 - 98 )

Election Results Work Sample

I was not in class today, because I was at a science meeting at the district office. Students completed a problem solving work sample assignment in class today, dealing with election results.

Tonight's Homework: Complete the deer and bird problem. Be sure to show your work clearly, and then verify your results.