Introduction
Introduction to SLOPE!
Algebra I Students,
Welcome to the class WebQuest! Through this WebQuest, you will dive into the wonderful world of slopes! You encounter different types of slopes in everyday life whether you know it or not!
Have you ever walked up a steep hill? Gone down a waterslide? Have you ever been on an amusement park ride that drops straight down? Have you ever walked on a flat road? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you have encountered examples of slopes.
SLOPE is defined as a number that describes both the direction and the steepness of the line. SLOPE is often denoted by the letter m. The direction of a line is either increasing, decreasing, horizontal or vertical.
As you navigate through this WebQuest, you will learn even more about what slope really means and why it is important for you to understand. Now, imagine you are at the top of a water slide and get prepared to take that negative slope down!
See you at the bottom!
(Proceed to the Task Tab)
Task
Task
During this WebQuest, you will visit several online sources to guide you in your exploration of the slope of a linear equation.
Attached in a handout below are your guiding questions. Read and consider these before you begin, and then fill in the handout as you discover information in your reading.
Handout
Name___________________________________ Date_________________________
|
Question |
Findings |
|
1. What do the terms “rise” and “run” mean in regard to the definition of slope?
|
|
|
2. Define the following terms in regards to slope: positive, negative, undefined, and zero.
|
|
|
3. What information do you need to find the slope?
|
|
|
4. What are some examples of positive slope, negative slope, undefined slope, and zero slope in real life?
|
|
|
5. What is slope-intercept form?
|
|
(Proceed to the Process Tab)
Process
Process, Resources, & Learning Advice
(As you go through these different resources, continually be referring to the handout and filling in what you can!)
Process & Resources
I. Gain a fundamental understanding of slope by visiting these two web pages!
1. View the notebook pages this teacher from OK posted on her blog.
http://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-and-interpreting-slope-inb-pages.html
AND
2. Visit the site below to learn about slope!
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/slope.htm
II. Now, watch the video below highlighting the important key concepts of slope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnMaWTmdbKk
III. Geogebra is a program that allows you to plot points and lines however you wish. Play around with the graphing feature and get a good feel for how changing the slope of a line changes the graph as a whole.
IV. Lastly, visit the two links below to read information on slope-intercept form. Each link has a video too. Make sure you have a good understanding of slope from the previous parts before you move on to this.
http://www.mathwarehouse.com/algebra/linear_equation/slope-intercept-form.php
V. If you haven't filled in your graphic organizer yet, revisit as many links as needed to learn the information.
Learning Advice
- Please organize all information in the handout as provided. If you run out of room on the handout, you may extend the information into a similar format on a piece of notebook paper. Recording in the chart and keeping a similar format on notebook paper will make it easy to refer back to and find as we progress.
(Proceed to Conclusion Tab)
Conclusion
Conclusion
Slope is such an important part of everything we will continue to do in Algebra I this year. This concept will carry over into Algebra II, Geometry, Calculus, and many other mathematics courses you will take in the future. There are also many applications of slope in the sciences as well. Needless to say, your understanding of slope is very important moving forward.
From this activity, you should have gained a basic understanding of what slope is and the different kinds that exist. You should have also dabbled your feet in slope intercept form and how that relates to slope.
Next week we will really dive into the different ways we can write equations when we know the slope. Bring your chart from this activity with you and a good attitude!
See you Monday!
-Ms. Hollingsworth
(You are finished!)