To the Teacher

While originally designed for Algebra 2 students, this workbook is intended to accompany any course which covers the exploration of functions and their applications. These activities were developed in order to provide students with the opportunity to:

· develop their ability to communicate mathematical concepts and procedures,

· solve problems using technology,

· appreciate the interrelatedness of mathematical concepts,

· see the relationship between mathematics and others areas of knowledge, and

· work with real-world data

Students develop their reasoning and communication skills by writing a completion report for each activity. A completion report is a document used by companies to keep track of projects that are carried out. It describes the circumstances which led to the problem and the specific strategies used to solve it. In addition, it includes any data that is generated, along with appropriate charts and graphs, and a conclusion or recommendation. The process of writing a completion report requires them to organize their thoughts and communicate their ideas effectively.

The students’ workbook includes the following:

· an explanation of what a completion report is and what it includes

· an example of a completion report

· projects which allow students the opportunity to write completion reports to explain and justify their mathematical procedures

· a final project which can be assigned at the end of the year over a more extended period of time

The teachers’ manual includes:

· an index of projects categorized by subject matter (type of function) that outlines some of the kinds of technology that may be incorporated

· notes and suggestions for each activity, as well as solutions when relevant

· a grading rubric which can be used for each of the projects

Teachers should encourage students to be creative and to feel free to make the completion report seem more realistic by adding fictional information. For example, they might have fun creating a company name and logo, and by providing their own background information in the introduction.

These activities can be done individually, with partners, or as group projects. Teachers can also assign specific roles to students if they are working as a team. For example, if research is involved, one student could be in charge of doing the appropriate research, while another is in charge of the mathematics, and another is in charge of creativity. All students should have the opportunity to give input into the final product, however.

As an alternative to written reports, students may be given the opportunity to do PowerPoint or poster board presentations. While most of the projects can be completed with the use of a graphing calculator and word processor, they may also incorporate a wide range of technology. For example, Excel and Minitab can be used for producing graphs and pasting them into a word processing document, or TI- Interactive can be used to produce the document and the graphs. This software also makes it easier for students to incorporate mathematical equations into their document.

The final project is designed to give students an opportunity to apply the skills they have developed from the activities done throughout the year to a long term project in which they are given more independence in terms of deciding what problem they will solve and how they will go about collecting and analyzing their data.