Activity Overview
Students learn to impose a grid on a line to quantify the steepness of a line. They learn that slope is the ratio of vertical change divided by the horizontal change. They also learn that lines can have slope that are positive, zero, negative, or undefined. Students also observe that the slope of a straight line is a constant.
Before the Activity
Install Topics in Algebra 1 (Chapters 1-4) App on the calculator using one of these two methods:
TI Connect™, TI Connectivity Cable, and Unit-to-Unit Link Cable
TI-Navigator™ "send to class" feature
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 3-1 to 3-5 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
Observe straight lines with different slopes and note that every line has a constant slope
Use a grid to find the slope of a line between two points, and select the correct answer from the given options
Link two calculators and use a grid to determine the slope of the line segments as quickly as possible
Use the calculator and the coordinates of points on a line to graph the line
Find the slope of the line
Solve additional problems
After the Activity
Students will complete the Student Worksheet and analyze the results.
Review student results:
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary