Mid-Year Student Check-In Survey

It seems like only yesterday you were filling out your last google survey, introducing yourself to me and what your hopes, concerns and goals for the year were. I hope you have enjoyed the last 4 months as much as I have--variables, linear equations, inverse relationships oh my! :) As we approach the end of 2010 I wanted to take an opportunity to hear from you again and see how the year is going, what you are enjoying, what is challenging, and hear any ideas from you on how we can make our time together even more valuable in 2011. Additionally in January we are considering changing A/B groups and I wanted to get your input on what sorts of groupings you prefer. Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey thoughtfully and honestly. I look forward to reading what you have to say. -Marcella

Please click the link below to complete the survey.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHgzRXMxS1VDU2xNZWw3cGlrSFh3QWc6MQ

Inverse Relationships

Today in class we defined the relationships we have been looking at this past week, from calculating the driving time to LA (360/Speed = Time), the relationship between the length of a bridge and its breaking weight, to determining the relationship between the area of a rectangle and its length and width (Ex. For a 24 square inch rectangle, 24/length=width). These relationships, which are graphically represented in a curve in which the difference is greatest when the x-value is low and the y value is high and then the difference dramatically decreases as the x increases. These relationships are distinct from our previously studied linear relationships and are called inverse relationships, in which as one value increases the other decreases (or experiences an inverse).

The relationship between two variables, x and y, is an inverse variation if:

y= k/x

or

xy = k

where k is a constant not 0

Students had a choice for homework today, 1 that is similar to what we have been doing in class, or taking a challenging option in which they are extending the applications of the inverse relationships we have been examining. The link for the homework is below (The first 2 pages is the standard homework and pages 3-4 are the challenge option). The homework is due Monday.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10516607/8th%20Handouts/HW_Inverse_Relationships.docx