Unit 5, 6, and 7
Hello!
It has been a while since I have given an update about what we are doing in Algebra 1, so here is what we have covered since the start of this semester and what is in store for the next little bit:
When we returned from break, we started with Unit 5 - Systems of Linear Equations:
It has been a while since I have given an update about what we are doing in Algebra 1, so here is what we have covered since the start of this semester and what is in store for the next little bit:
When we returned from break, we started with Unit 5 - Systems of Linear Equations:
- Students learned what systems of linear equations are.
- Students learned how to solve systems by graphing.
- Students learned how to solve systems using substitution.
- Students learned how to solve systems using elimination.
- We took our Unit 5 test on Wednesday, January 22nd.
- My favorite assignment for unit 5 had students make a t-shirt or something similar and used systems of equations to analyze costs, revenue, and profit for their designs.
Last week (starting January 27th), we began Unit 6 - Exponential Functions:
- Students reviewed rules for exponents.
- Students learned how to convert radicals to rational exponents.
- Students learned how to convert rational exponents to radicals and how to evaluate each.
- Students learned to graph exponential functions and applied their knowledge of transformations to these graphs.
- Students learned to write exponential functions to model real-life scenarios.
- Students learned to write models to represent percentage growth and decay using real-life scenarios.
- Students learned the difference between geometric and arithmetic sequences.
- Students learned to write explicit and recursive rules for sequences.
- On Wednesday, February 5th, we are finishing up this unit's content by practicing writing rules for sequences. Thursday and Friday this week, we will be working on a project as our end of unit assessment instead of taking a test (details to come soon!)
Next week we will begin Unit 7 - Polynomial Equations and Factoring. I believe factoring quadratics (and polynomials) is the hardest topic in all of Algebra 1, but so far this year I have noticed that students like to step up to challenging topics and tasks.