Education Technology


Applications of Parabolas

Activity Overview

Students look for both number patterns and visual shapes that go along with quadratic relationships.

Key Steps

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    In this activity, students will look for both number patterns and visual shapes that go along with quadratic relationships.

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    Two applications are introduced after some basic patterns in the first two problems.

    The pattern formed by the increasing piles of bricks is a familiar pattern of “triangular” numbers: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, … students are asked to draw the next pile, as well as enter the next number into lists and observe the effect on the scatter plot.

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    Additional applications are presented that include the idea of how gravity causes an object to fall rise, reach a maximum height, then fall to earth (or griddle!).