Twelve Basic Functions Challenge Inwards Pre-Calculus

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 few weeks ago, I had my best lesson of the twelvemonth too hence far inward pre-calculus. My students were engaged similar never before, too they became super competitive throughout the activity. They did agency to a greater extent than questions than I always would accept been able to acquire them to create if I had just given them a homework assignment. When they came into flat the adjacent day, they begged to create an activity similar to the previous day's activity because it had been too hence much fun. Yes, students begging to create math. It made my pump smile. 

When students entered the room, they constitute twelve lime dark-green posters spread to a greater extent than or less the room. 

Each i of these posters represented i of the twelve basic functions identified inward our Demana too Waits Pre-Calc textbook.

Each poster contained the refer of the business office equally identified yesteryear our book, a graph of the function, the equation of the function, too an interesting fact well-nigh the function.

My goal for this activity was to acquire students upward too moving to a greater extent than or less the room too talking well-nigh the diverse nurture functions. I originally visit well-nigh making these posters into pocket-size cards for each grouping to accept at their desk, but the re-create machine I had to utilisation to create that ended upward breaking which seat a stop to that plan. So, posters it was. And, I recall that ended upward beingness a expert excogitation anyway.

The adjacent resources I created for this activity was a challenge tracking sheet. Each grouping would accept the chance to earn upward to xvi stamps yesteryear completing xvi unlike challenges. I honor that a tracking canvass is necessary whenever I create activities similar this, or groups create non terminate upward managing their fourth dimension wisely or they endeavour to create the same problems over too over too over again. This way, students know just what has been finished too what nonetheless needs to hold upward done.

After passing out a challenge tracking canvass to each group, I gave each grouping a ziplock pocketbook containing twelve laminated cards that fit the twelve basic business office posters surrounding the room.

When I was talking to my hubby well-nigh my visit for this activity, he suggested that I brand the cards double-sided too add together a alphabetic lineament to the dorsum to brand the activity easier to check. This turned out to hold upward a LIFE-SAVER.

So, y'all are likely wondering yesteryear at nowadays what are the challenges?

The visit for this activity started when I was flipping through the textbook too a fix of exercises caught my eye. The problems asked students to position which of the twelve basic functions fit each description. For example, position "the 4 functions that are odd" or "the 3 functions alongside no zeros" or "the half dozen functions that are increasing on their entire domains." I visit these were AMAZING questions, but I didn't desire to just manus them out equally a textbook assignment. That sparked the visit for this challenge activity.

Not familiar alongside this textbook? You are inward luck because Pearson has the PDF of this department of the textbook on their website for free! You tin honor it here.

I specially loved that these questions killed ii birds alongside i stone. They gave my students crucially needed exercise alongside the novel vocabulary words nosotros had been learning (even odd, domain, range, continuous, cry for of discontinuity, bounded, increasing, decreasing, zeros, terminate behavior, etc.) too it introduced them to a whole bunch of nurture functions at once. Some of these were nurture functions they were real familiar alongside from Algebra 1 too Algebra 2. Others (like the logistic, sine, cosine, too greatest integer functions) were completely new.

I typed upward the challenges ii to a page too printed them too laminated them. I entirely printed i fix of challenges, but inward retrospect I should accept printed at to the lowest degree ii sets too hence that ii groups could hold upward working on whatever i challenge at the same time. There were a few challenges that students constitute specially tricky. This meant that other groups had to hold off a really, truly long fourth dimension to hold upward able to tackle that challenge since at that topographic point was entirely i copy. Given that I had fix this upward equally a contest to meet which grouping could consummate the most challenges inside our l infinitesimal period, this meant some students were real frustrated at the groups using the challenges that they nonetheless needed.

To boot off the challenge, I gave each grouping a challenge tracking sheet, pocketbook of nurture business office cards, too i of the challenge cards (randomly chosen yesteryear me) to start with.

Each grouping right away fix to piece of work looking at the posters of the twelve basic functions to a greater extent than or less the room too debating which cards represented the right answers. When they visit they had the answer, they would ship a delegate from their squad upward to my desk alongside 3 things. Their Challenge Tracking Sheet (for me to postage stamp if they were correct), their Challenge Card (so I could figure out where to hold off on my respond key), too the business office cards that they believed answered the question.

I would flip over the cards that they brought me too speedily compare the letters to my respond key. If they were correct, I would postage stamp their canvass too allow them alter out their challenge bill of fare for a novel challenge. If they were incorrect, I would say them just that they were wrong too ship them dorsum to rework the employment alongside their group.

I didn't truly acquire whatever pictures of my students inward activity during this activity because I was CONSTANTLY busy checking students piece of work too handing out novel challenges. I overheard too hence many awesome conversations, too my students were VERY familiar alongside the basic graphs of the twelve basic functions yesteryear the terminate of the flat period! My students were super competitive which was expert because it kept whatever groups from giving other groups the answers which tin sometimes locomote on alongside activities similar this.

I experience a chip weird beingness proud of this lesson because I don't truly experience similar I did much educational activity well-nigh nurture functions. My students did all the learning too educational activity themselves. But, those truly are the best lessons, aren't they?

Want the resources to run this activity alongside your ain class? I accept uploaded the resources to Google Drive equally both editable Google Slides too PDFs. You tin download them here.

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