Education Technology


Derivatives in Flight

Activity Overview

Students will be able to visualize the graph of a function's derivative by considering the slope of the graph of the original function. Students will then relate a real-world function's derivative to the velocity of an object in flight.

Key Steps

  • Image

    On page 1.4, grab the white point labeled x on the x-axis and move it to see the slope f'(t) of the tangent line change as you move along the graph. The slope of the tangent line at each point represents the velocity of the rocket at that moment.