There has been a recent push for teachers throughout the nation to emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in high schools. The New Haven Public School district is no different. In an effort to make our district's students more competitive with international students, we must increase interest in and fluency within these areas. Science, technology and engineering have a specific draw for students as each offers a hands-on approach. Mathematics is often approached from a more theoretical standpoint. This unit attempts to combine the best components of each of these disciplines to provide a well-rounded and engaging approach to learning quadratic functions.
The second driving force of this unit is the new Common Core State Standards of Mathematics (CCSSM), in particular the standards for mathematical practice. The CCSS are meant to make students more competitive academically and to help them become college and career ready. The eight standards for mathematical practice push teachers to develop "varieties of expertise" within their students that help them make sense of and communicate about mathematics as a "sensible, useful, and worthwhile" endeavor.
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The eight standards for mathematical practice are:
1.
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Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them;
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2.
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Reason abstractly and quantitatively;
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3.
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Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others;
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4.
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Model with mathematics;
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5.
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Use appropriate tools strategically;
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6.
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Attend to precision;
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7.
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Look for and make use of structure;
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8.
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Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
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This unit is designed specifically to take students out of the theoretical realm of mathematics so they can experience direct application outside of the typical word problem scenario. Through simple experimentation using the scientific method, students will model with mathematics and persevere to answer the essential question that will be expanded upon in the next section: How do adjustments to various components (arm length, angle of release, and spring torsion) of a catapult affect the trajectory of a projectile?
The Common Core State Standards do not require that each mathematical practice be taught in every lesson, but encourages their regular use, with special emphasis on the first four. This unit of study will meet all eight practice standards.