Even though it is a short week I found today to be extraordinarily long. I was excited to teach my Algebra 2 classes as we are starting our Quadratics Unit and I find it fun teaching. My goal this year is to really create an atmosphere of problem solving and application. I want my students to not just do the math but to experience it. I know I can't do this each and every day but I want to make it a habit to start each unit with something fun, relevant and thought provoking.
Today was a weak attempt I must admit. I drew a picture on the board of a stick person pushing a huge ball off of a ledge. At the bottom of the ledge was another stick man with a cart he was pushing. He was about 4 meters from the bottom of the ledge. The ledge had a height of 5.14 meters. That's it. No question, no equation, no formula. I just let the students absorb it. Finally one student stated "I wonder if he can catch the ball before it hits the ground?" That's all I needed. After a short discussion and some talk about vertical motion models we actually went out in the hall way where I just happen to have a ledge overlooking a stairway that is exactly 5.14 meters high. We proceeded to see if a few students could "catch" the ball in time.
Next up is graphing. Letting the students discover the changes to the graphs of a quadratic function.
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