Algebra I
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Folding Parabolas
Posted on Feb 19, 2009
Topic: Quadratic Functions
In this activity, students graph a quadratic function and investigate its symmetry by choosing pairs of points with the same y-value. They then calculate the average of the x-values of these points and discover that not only do all the points have the same x-value, but the average is equal to the x-value of the vertex.
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Activity Key Steps:
This activity enables students to investigate the axis of symmetry of a quadratic.
Students graph a quadratic equation and examine it.
A page is set up for students to gather data from a graph of a quadratic function.
Students will use the manual data capture to record the x-coordinates with the same y-values.
Students use a formula in the spreadsheet that calculates the average of two x-coordinates with the same y value.
After capturing the points and finding the averages of their x-values. Students will use the data to investigate and form a hypothesis about the axis of symmetry and the mean of two x-values.
At the end of this activity, students will be able to use the axis of symmetry to find the coordinates of the vertex.