Education Technology

Factoring Special Cases

Subject Area
Math: Algebra I: Quadratic Functions
Level
9-12
Activity Time
30 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire™ CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS

Factoring Special Cases

Activity Overview

Students explore geometric proofs for two factoring rules: a2 + 2ab + b2 = (a + b)2 and x2 – a2 = (x – a)(x + a). Given a set of shapes whose combined areas represent the left-hand expression, they manipulate them to create rectangles whose areas are equal to the right-hand expression.

Subject Area
Math: Algebra I: Quadratic Functions
Level
9-12
Activity Time
30 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire™ CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS
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