11/9/17

Working with my students today we found something I had never seen before. Some of you smart people out there may already know this, but it blew my mind.

Given a quadratic function in Vertex Form, what is the significance of the a value?

ie:   y = a(x - h)^2 + k

We looked at a progression of functions to build it out. If you are interested in doing this look at:

a)  y = 1/5x^2             b)  y = -2/3x^2            c)  y = 3/4x^2 + 3

I found it to be really interesting. I love looking for patterns and seeing new things. For me mathematical education should be all about this type of stuff. It is really hard to do this because the students are not equipped to look for patterns in their work. But if you can get them past that by the questions you ask, I think you will find real enjoyment in this.

Please feel free to send me any cool pattern things you use, or that you and your students have discovered. Lets change education for the better.

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