Bye, Bye to "Moving Straight Ahead"

Students turned in their "Moving Straight Ahead" books today, and replaced them with red "Shapes and Designs" books. Students practiced combining like terms by using the long and short sides of a paper clip to measure various shapes.

Tonight's Homework: Work on the first half of the purple packet. Finish the problem about the flooring of Tara and Brad's house.

Quiz over Linear Equations

Students completed a series of questions today in class to show me how well they have understood the information they have learned over the last two weeks about linear equations.

Tonight's Homework: Be sure to complete your missing work, especially if you have been absent. For those of you who have been here all week, there is no new homework.

Determining Slope and Y-intercepts

Using equations, we determined that the slope of the line is the determined by the number in front of the "x" term. This number tells us how much you will need to go up and over in order to get to another point on the same line. The y-intercept of the line is the number that is added to or subtracted from the "x" term. It is possible for this number to be zero, and in this case, the line passes through the origin.

Tonight's Homework: ACE 4 (2 - 12). Look over Investigations 2 and 3 to prepare for tomorrow's quiz.

Steps in Real Life Look Like Steps on a Graph!

Using data obtained from last night's measurement of steps, students constructed graphs to show the rise and run of the different types of stairs. We graphed multiple steps using the rise and run information on one grid, and determined that the rise over the run is the slope of the line. This information will be used in future lessons about slope.

Tonight's Homework: ACE 4 (1, 36) and finish the graph you started in class today.

Steps and Risers

To introduce the notion of slope, we looked at steps. We measured the vertical distance (rise) and the horizontal distance (step), and reported this as a ratio. We also started a poster project that will help us review key points related to linear equations, tables, graphs and how they relate to specific situations.

Tonight's Homework: Find at least two different types of stairs (steps) to measure. Measure the riser and and step parts of each. Bring this information to school tomorrow. Start studying for the test you'll be taking on Friday.

Order of Operations and Finding Patterns

We watched a video about order of operations to ensure we remember the steps. Next, we did a couple of activities to help us see the relationship between tables, graphs, pictures and formulas. We agreed that we will finish this unit on Friday, and in doing so, have less homework to complete over the upcoming weekend.

Tonight's Homework: Home Book, page 117 (all). We will have a test over the Moving Straight Ahead material on Friday, February 7th. Start preparing for it now!

Rates of Change and Orders of Operations

Students worked in pairs or by themselves to create a poster to summarize how tables, graphs and equations can be used to find solutions to situations that require variables on both sides of an equal sign. These posters were to be turned in at the end of the period.

Tonight's Homework: Complete pages 34, 35 and 37 of the ivory packet of papers. Be sure to follow the directions printed on each page.