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Derivatives Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Derivatives educational resource ideas and activities
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Here's a real-world instructional activity using a business simulation. Two business accounts are used to find slope and intercept functions. The class graphs and interprets the information to find a break even point. There are plenty of worksheets and assessments included in this instructional activity.
High schoolers graph exponential equations and solve application problems using exponential functions. They re-enact a story about a peasant worker whose payment for services is rice grains doubled on a checker board. They place M & Ms on a checkerboard and mark the number on a graph. They double the number for each space on the board and create a graph of the data.
Young scholars analyze graphs and determine their general shape. In this calculus lesson, students solve functions by taking the derivative, sketch tangent lines and estimate the slope of the line using the derivative. They graph and analyze their answers.
If you or your class members are interested in how the quadratic formula is derived, then take a look at this video! The tutorial takes you through each step necessary to derive the quadratic formula from the general form for a quadratic equation.
Are you working on the distance formula? Derive the distance formula and help your learners by showing them the logic behind the distance formula. This practical video should help conceptual understanding and is appropriate for in-class or at-home use.
Play ball! High schoolers explore the concept of quadratic equations through modeling how shooting a basketball can be expressed as a quadratic function. They impose a coordinate grid on the path of a shooting basketball and determine points to model the data. Additionally, they enter data into lists and perform a quadratic regression on the data.
Students transform functions from the parent across the coordinate plane. In this algebra lesson, students investigate function notations, graphing and identification of graphing and its purpose.
Twelfth graders investigate the derivative of a function. For this calculus lesson, 12th graders explore the derivatives of sine, cosine, natural log, and natural exponential functions. The lesson promotes the idea of the derivative as a function and uses numerical and graphical investigations to form conjectures about common derivative formulas.
Examine the concept of functions using real-world data. Phone bills, postage rates, and airline schedules are analyzed by plotting data and drawing lines that fit the data. Predictions are made that extrapolate or interpolate the data.
This is comprehensive lesson that considers many aspects of quadratic functions. It includes using factoring, completing the square and the use of the quadratic formula for finding the zeros of the function (including imaginary roots). It also reverses the whole process by looking at either different graphs of quadratic functions or zeros that are given and challenges the learner to derive the function. This lesson provides an excellent review for the second year algebra student or a multi-lesson unit for the more novice student.