Education Technology


Exponential Transformations

Activity Overview

Graph exponential functions and explore by making changes in the parameters.

Objectives

Change the parameters of the exponential function to discover that changes in:

  • k result in vertical translations
  • h result in horizontal translations
  • a result in vertical stretches and compressions (dilations), and reflections across the x-axis
  • b result in horizontal stretches and compressions (dilations), and reflections across the y-axis

 

Vocabulary

  • Translation
  • Dilation
  • Compression
  • Stretch
  • Reflection
  • Transformation

About the Lesson

This lesson involves graphing exponential functions of the form y = a*baseb*(x - h ) - k. As a result, students will:

  • Manipulate given parameters and make conjectures about the relationships between the parameters’ values and their effects on the resulting exponential function’s graph.
  • Test their newly-learned knowledge and determine the exponential function for a given graph.