Printing Books Project

This project was adapted from the NCTM Illuminations lesson Printing Books : http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L271.

N. Spinosa

CONTENT STANDARDS: 8.EE.5 Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. 8.EE.8 a-c Analyze and solve pairs of simultaneous linear equations. 8.SP.3 Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data, interpreting the slope and intercept. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How can a spreadsheet be helpful in data analysis? What is the meaning of the intersection point of a pair of simultaneous linear equations? How can slope be used in the analysis of a proportional relationship within the context of a problem? MATERIALS: Smart Board Computer laptop cart or computer lab with spreadsheet software (i.e. Microsoft Excel)

STANDARDS FOR MATHEMATICAL PRACTICE: MP2, MP3, MP4, MP5, MP7

APPROXIMATE TIME 135-180 minutes

SKILLS DEVELOPED: Students will be able to: Use a spreadsheet to create a line graph to display data Use software to analyze data Analyze simultaneous linear equations in the context of a realworld problem PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Students will be able to calculate slope using two coordinates and have an understanding of writing linear equations in slope-intercept form.

SET-UP/INTRODUCTION Review of slope, y-intercept, slope-intercept form, and unit rate within the context of a proportional relationship can all be used as set-up problems throughout the days that students are working on this project. Some example do-now problems can include: What is the slope and y-intercept of this line? What is the equation of the line in slope-intercept form? What is the slope of this line and how much does Antwan save per week? (slope/unit-rate correlation discussion) Extension: What does Antwan save per day in an average week?

Printing Books Project

N. Spinosa

LEARNING ACTIVITIES Objective 1: To use a spreadsheet to sort data. Students will be presented with a problem: The Board of Educations as three different options for getting their textbooks printed. They can either use the copy center at their school, an outside printing company, or the school district office to print their textbooks for the year. A worksheet for this story can be found at: http://illuminations.nctm.org/lessons/6-8/printing/PrintingBooks-AS-Information.pdf Students will be sent a file that initiates their spreadsheet for the three different printing options. This spreadsheet can be downloaded at http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L271.

They will extrapolate this data for 2500 books. Students will be shown how to click and drag boxes to continue a pattern in a particular column. Next, they will be shown how to highlight the data and create a line graph based on the information in a spreadsheet. They will be introduced to the graphing tools available on the spreadsheet and shown how to change titles on axes, give the graph a title, alter color and gridlines, etc. Students should be given some time to get familiar with these tools.

Printing Books Project

Objective 2: To use a spreadsheet to analyze data.

N. Spinosa

As a class, students will be guided to examine each line created alongside the original data spreadsheet. General questions can be asked to allow students to access this information. Ask: Which copying option has the greatest starting fee? What point on the line gives us this information? Which copying option increases the fastest? What characteristics of the line can give us this information? If you were only making 10 copies of a book, which copying option would you choose? Why? If you were making 2000 copies of a book, which copying option would you choose? Why? There are some points where lines intersect. Which points are these? How much does each copying option cost at that point? (Prompt students to use the mouse of their computer to roll over these points on the graph to see how a spreadsheet can help point out data shown in specific areas.) Differentiation: Students will be given a different set of questions based on teacher observation and their progress throughout the linear equations unit. Follow-up Question form A will be given to low-level students, form B to students on grade level, and form C will be given to advanced students. Form A will provide more structure while form C more independent analysis of the problem.

CLOSURE Ask students to reiterate the information they learned earlier about the lines. Make a chart or gather this information in a table on the Smart Board. This chart can later be distributed to students on a lower level that may need assistance with note-taking or can be kept for absent students. It can be left up in the classroom for reference while students are completing their follow-up questions. ASSESSMENT Students will print or send a copy of their spreadsheet and graphs to the teacher. You can also request that students print a cover to make the project aesthetically pleasing for a bulletin board or make a board for presentation. Follow-up questions should be completed independently for you to further assess student understanding and analysis ability.