Objectives
- Students will explore the plots of various data sets, looking for patterns.
- Students will identify plots that appear to be functions.
- Students will determine which plots appear to form a linear pattern, and then acquire the best function that models the pattern, in the form of y = mx + b.
- Students will parse the linear function, looking at the slope and the y-intercept in the context of the data that was used. They will identify the units of these values and their contextual meaning.
- Students will use functions to model relationships between quantities.
- Students will interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models and in terms of its graph or a table of values (CCSS Mathematical Standard).
- Students will apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace (CCSS Mathematical Practice).
Vocabulary
- function
- model
- y-intercept
- slope
- table
- linear function
- variables
- independent variable
- dependent variable
- set
About the Lesson
This lesson involves identifying patterns of data from given lists.
As a result, students will:
- Identify patterns that might represent functions, and in particular, linear functions.
- Represent realistic relationships.
- Identify the best function to fit the data and examine its parts in context.