Activities

Download
- Download All Files (ZIP)
- Teacher Files
- Teacher Notes PDF
- Student Files
- Student Activity DOC
- Student Activity PDF
- Calc File 1
- Calc File 2
- Calc File 3
- Calc File 4
- Calc File 5
- Calc File 6
Alignment
- Standards Alignment
- Textbook Alignment
Subject Area
- Math: Algebra II: Matrices
- Math: Algebra II: Polynomials
- Math: Algebra II: Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities
Author

Texas Instruments
Level

9-12
Activity Time

45 Minutes
Device
- TI-84 Plus
- TI-84 Plus Silver Edition
- TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition
- TI-84 Plus CE
Software

TI Connect™ CE
Report an Issue

Count the Differences

Updated on 02/18/2015

Students are given data, asked to find the finite differences, and then use this to find a polynomial that models the data.

Students begin by finding the first-order differences of a linear relation to make the connection between finding slope and finite differences.
Then, students will find second- and third-order finite differences in order to find a polynomial that models the given data.
As an extension, students will use matrix equations to find polynomials that model the data from this activity.