In my capstone class for future secondary math teachers, I ask my students to come up with ideas for engaging their students with different topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. In other words, the point of the assignment was not to devise a full-blown lesson plan on this topic. Instead, I asked my students to think about three different ways of getting their students interested in the topic in the first place.
I plan to share some of the best of these ideas on this blog (after asking my students’ permission, of course).
This student submission again comes from my former student Trent Pope. His topic, from Algebra: equations of two variables.
A1. What interesting (i.e., uncontrived) word problems using this topic can your students do now? (You may find resources such as http://www.spacemath.nasa.gov to be very helpful in this regard; feel free to suggest others.)
I found a website that has many word problems where students can solve for two variables. An example of one of these problems is “If a student were to buy a certain number of $5 scarfs and $2 hats for a total amount of $100, how many scarfs and hats did they buy?”. This example would give students a real world application of how we use two variable equations. It would show students that there are multi variable problems when we go to the store to shop for things, like food or clothing. An instance for food would be when a concession stand sells small and large drinks at a sporting event and want to know how many drinks they have sold at the end of the night. After using a two variable linear equation and knowing the price of the cups, total amount earned, and total cups sold, students would be able to solve for the number of small cups as well as large cups sold.
https://sites.google.com/site/harlandclub/Home/math/algebra/word2var
B2. How does this topic extend what your students should have learned in previous courses?
This topic extends on the students’ ability to graph and solve a linear equation, which should have been taught in their previous classes. The only difference is that the variable, y, that you solved for in Pre-Algebra is now on the same side as the other variable. For instance, the equation y =(-1/4) x + 4 is the same as x + 4y = 16. We see that we solve for the same variables, but they are both on the same side. This is because you are solving the same linear equation. A linear equation can be written in multiple forms, as long as the forms have matching solutions. This is something that students could prove to you by graphing and solving the equations. They would solve the equations to see that they have the same variables. This makes students more aware that they need to be able to compute for other variables besides x if the question asks for it.
E1. How can technology (YouTube, Khan Academy [khanacademy.org], Vi Hart, Geometers Sketchpad, graphing calculators, etc.) be used to effectively engage students with this topic? Note: It’s not enough to say “such-and-such is a great website”; you need to explain in some detail why it’s a great website.
The most effective way to engage a student about this topic is by using a graphing calculator. This is to help students make the visual connection with the topic and check to see if they have graphed the equations the correct way. Students learn more effectively through visual demonstration. Because students are the ones to solve for the equation and plug it into the calculator to check their work, they are going to be able to make that connection, and we will be able to verify that they understand the material. As teachers, we need to incorporate more technology into the ways of learning because we are surrounded by it daily. Using graphing calculators would be a great way to show and check the work of a two variable equation. This gives students a chance to see what mistakes they have made and what lose ends need to be tied up.
References
Solving Word Problems using a system with 2 variables. n.d. <https://sites.google.com/site/harlandclub/Home/math/algebra/word2var>.
Mean Green Math 