Curated and Reviewed by
Lesson Planet
This Parabolas Are All Around Us activity also includes:
- Student Reference
- Rubric
- Join to access all included materials
Moving parabolas off of graph paper and into the real world is the task at hand in this detailed poster project. First, learners perform a cumulative activity identifying many characteristics of an assigned quadratic equation. Next, they identify parabolas in the world around them and present their findings in a poster project. The included rubric helps guide the class through the process of investigating a math concept and then cleaning their findings up for presentation, a process that will serve them well through their STEM classes and beyond.
147 Views
104 Downloads
CCSS:
Adaptable
Concepts
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
- Consider displaying finished posters as part of an open house or parent-teacher conference night
- Take a math nature walk to find examples of parabolas and other math concepts
- Work with a physical science or physics class to include development of parabolas in physical situations, like projectile motion
- Extend the project by having learners or groups find pictures of a real-life parabola, overlay a grid, and develop approximate quadratic equations to represent the picture
Classroom Considerations
- Each group's quadratic equation could be specifically chosen for differentiation purposes or randomly assigned from a list
- Develop equations that groups are assigned before class, perhaps similar to your own textbook examples
- Take care that the characteristics identified in the project are the same identified as key by your curriculum
- Project write-up is specific to the school district of the writer
Pros
- Detailed instructions and accompanying rubric
- Project point spread emphasizes correct math and procedure over pretty presentation
- Integration of nature / environmental math into potentially abstract assignment
- Learners encouraged to personalize and develop their project beyond answering algebraic questions with correct numbers
Cons
- No sample quadratic equations provided
- No model projects or graded exemplars available