S+Reynolds,+Allison

**Office:** Room 218 EDU CTR **Office Hours:** Monday-Thursday 2-4pm, Friday by appointment. ** E-mail: ** allison.reynolds@maine.edu
 * Teacher:** Ms. Reynolds

=Summary of Unit= Mathematics can be seen everywhere, from careers, art, history, and even in the modern world. This unit is designed to show students how functions can be seen (and applied) in the real world. During the unit, students will be learning concepts such as: linear, quadratic, and exponential equations, formulas, how to identify certain equations, and how rates relate to these functions. At the end of the unit, students will have a variety of projects and examples that show the basics of functions, how to evaluate them, and to consider how these equations are used outside of the classroom. Students, by the end of the unit, should be able to answer questions such as: "How do linear equations relate to what we do outside of class?" Or questions like: "How do rates in the real world relate to these equations?" Students will be challenged to see beyond the cloud of numbers and formulas to discover a concrete idea of how these functions work, inside and outside the classroom.

=Establish Goals= Common Core State Standards Content Area: Functions Grade level: High School Domain: Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models Cluster: Construct and compare linear, quadratic, and exponential models and solve problems. Standard: 1: Distinguish between situations that can be modeled with linear functions and with exponential functions.

=Students will understand that= •linear equations can be found and used in the real world. •exponential equations can be used in the real world. •rates of "real world" subjects can be solved with linear, quadratic, and exponential equations.

=Essential Questions=

•How do linear equations relate to what we do outside of class? •Why are exponential equations important in the real world? •How do rates in the real world relate to linear, quadratic, and exponential equations? = = =Students will know=

• __ Definitions __ : linear, quadratic, exponential,equations, rates, constant rates, constant percent rates. • __ Formulas __ : y=mx+b, standard, quadratic, exponential, rates. • __ Critical details __ : difference in equations, identify situations, parts of rates, rates in and out of the classroom.

=Students will be able to=

•describe the relationship between rates and equations in the real world. •evaluate linear equations and judge when to use them. •build a foundation of linear equations to perform these functions in the outside world. •analyze functions in the outside world that are based on exponential equations. •consider the types of rates related to different professions. •recognize the situations where exponential equations would be applied.

**Performance Task Overview**

You are the engineer in a town reinventing itself. The mayor of the town has created a competition to create a new skate park. The park is being created because parents have complained that there is no educational park for the students to play in outside of school. With all of this in mind, the mayor has asked the Parks and Recreation Department to decide on the submissions. The Parks and Recreation Department is not only looking for the skate park to be designed with mathematical equations, but for the park to be presented with Google Sketchup since that is what the construction crew will use to build. Your task is to create a park to educate children on mathematical equations while having the skate park be fun for children to play at.

=Expectations=
 * Absences: ** Attendance is necessary for my class in order to gain the most knowledge from the unit. Every person experiences situations out of their control and I understand this may lead to students missing class. If you miss class, you will be missing an entire lesson that leads to more information throughout the unit. As unfortunate as that would be, I am willing to work with you if you are willing to work with me. Please contact me somehow as soon as you know you will be missing class. I am expecting that you will be responsible for finding the assignments and missed work for that class. Your classmates are a great resource, please speak to them for finding assignments. I will also be posting assignments and major notes online on the Wikispace, but I expect that you will be able to understand what happened. If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to schedule a time for you and I to meet in order to catch you up. I am happy to work with students who are willing to do their share to stay with the lesson.


 * Assignments and Late Work: ** All assignments that are given will be expected to be finished to the highest quality a student can reach. Assignments are to be turned in on the due date given. If you missed class, you have one extra class date to pass in the late work. If you failed to turn in work on time, a conversation will be had between you and myself in order to figure out what happened. We will discuss appropriate actions and due dates. I am willing to give extensions if you give me a reasonable due date as well as a consequence you are willing to face in the event you do not meet the extension. This is not a way to delay all assignments. Extensions are given to students who show they truly need one. Please feel free to talk to me about concerns or questions about assignments and late work.


 * Classroom Expectations: ** The students in my class are expected to be part of a healthy and thriving community. This means that every student in the classroom has the right to feel safe, welcomed, and able to learn. Respect for classmates, myself, and yourself should be evident in the room and there should be support for the other students. Should a student ever feel unsafe, not welcomed, and not able to learn, please address the issues with me first. Discussions and actions will be taken in order to create a safe learning environment. Not only does the classroom succeed with students respecting and learning, the students must be ready to learn. All students should come to class prepared for that day. This includes having the assignments due that day completed, attent and awake to learn, all materials needed for the day prepared and brought to class, and finally, being willing to learn!


 * Plagiarism: ** Plagiarism is a serious policy that can be very easily broken unintentionally. Students will sometimes not understand the policy of plagiarism and what the consequences will be. The policy is that students will show credit for all pieces of work created by someone else. Anything copyrighted that is taken and used for the purpose of getting a grade as your own work will not be accepted. As the teacher for the school and the district, I will follow the school policies on the consequences of plagiarism (please see school handbook). If there are any questions about whether or not the plagiarism policy is violated during an assignment, please talk to me immediately. I understand that students sometimes do not know whether they are plagiarizing work or not, so please ask before making the wrong choice. I am willing to correct mistakes about credit before the assignment is passed in.

=Benchmarks (300 points)= • ** Comic Life: ** Students will use a comic book to compare real life equations to the ones used in class. The program Comic Life will be used to do this assignment. Students will be expected to create a superhero (realistic or not) that would save the day by using each of the equations to make the world safe again. Each type of equation, linear, quadratic, and exponential, will be used as an example for rates and real (or unrealistic) situations in the book. The creative aspect of this comic will bring the equations to life in a new way for the students to produce and share with the rest of the class. **(35 points)** • ** Instructables: ** Students will create an instruction guide to evaluate equations and post it online. The instruction guide will display the step by step process of solving equations in terms that most people would be able to understand. Students can use visuals, text, song, or any media aspect in order to make the instructions relatable and interesting. The students can work in groups or individually in order to create a guide that will be posted online. **(30 points)** • ** Glogster: ** Students will create posters that display basic ideas of linear equations. The poster will be an online poster that shows the basics of linear equations. It will need to have the parts of the equations, definitions, and any other information that is relevant to linear equations. The poster will need to be eye catching and engaging in order for students to want to learn from it. The poster can be completely math related or can be connected to a topic outside of the classroom such as photography, jungle themed, or any other theme to engage the learner. **(35 points)** • ** Audio Recording: ** An interview a professional that used exponential equations in his/her career will be conducted in this assignment. Students will need to do research on careers that use exponential equations. Students will hopefully find a career they are somewhat interested in so when they interview the professional they learn new things about the career. Students will have a set of questions to answer with the professional and record the answers in an audio file. The file can be a radio broadcast, a news clip, or anything creative. The recording will then be created into a podcast and published online for others to hear. **(40 points)** • ** Wordle: ** Students will create a collage of situations where equations can be used. There are careers, real life situations, stories, and plenty other examples of times where these equations will be used. Students will create their own list and create their own Wordle which will graphically display the words. After the assignment is completed, the class together will create a Wordle that best displays all the ideas together in one cloud. **(30 points)** • ** Photo portfolio: ** Students will take photos of objects shaped like functions and use programs to find the equation for the shape. Students will be encouraged to look beyond the classroom to find the shapes of the graphs in the real world in art, structure, people, or other areas.The students will work in pairs, groups, or individually in order to capture the still photos of these shapes. Then, the students will find the equations of these shapes and estimate the values of certain points in the shape through the Geogebra program. Students will see how these equations can be used not only for science but inspiration for other things in the real world. **(30 points)**

•**Performance Task:** See above. **(80 points)**

• **Other Assignments:** There will be smaller assignments given in order to practice and master the method and idea presented in class at the time. These assignments will be expected to be turned in on time and attempted to the students ability level. They are not based on the right or wrong answer, but whether students are using the assignment to find trouble areas and practice the material. **(20 points)** =Grading Scale=
 * A ** (93 -100), ** A- ** (90 - 92), ** B+ ** (87 - 89), ** B ** (83 - 86), ** B- ** (80 - 82), ** C+ ** (77 - 79), ** C ** (73-76), ** C- ** (70 - 72), ** D+ ** (67 - 69), ** D ** (63 - 66), ** D- ** (60 - 62), ** F ** (0 - 59).