Week 12: Grade 11 Mathematics

There are four different math courses that grade 11 students can take: University, University/College, College, and Workplace. In the first three courses the common topics are quadratics, exponential, finance, and trigonometry. The learning activities during week 12 focused on grade 11 college and grade 11 university/college curriculum expectations. 

Personal Finance: 

http://www.wadeinsurance.net

The grade 11 College activity we completed was from the personal finance unit. In this activity, we worked in groups to determine what the cost benefit was for a new driver who took a driving course on their insurance. The activity was presented so that groups were working together to determine the solution. This activity allowed us to solve the problem different ways and could be differentiated for students. It was interesting to see the different values found and how changing features (like car, gender, age) affected the end cost. This activity also provides students with context and relevant information. Overall, I think this activity would be engaging and fun to investigate with students. 

Trigonometry:

https://illuminations.nctm.org/Lesson.aspx?id=2870

The grade 11 university/college activity we completed looked at the relationship between the sine ratio and sine function. This hands-on activity allows students to create the sine function using their previous knowledge of the unit circle and the sine ratio. Using spaghetti, we measured the value of sine at different angles around the unit circle. These pieces of spaghetti created the sine function graph. 

This activity also has students look at key features of the graph (for example the amplitude, increasing and decreasing intervals, and maximum and minimum values). Although this activity was presented for the 11 University/College course, it could also be used in the grade 11 University course.

Overall, these are both activities that I hope to use with grade 11 students in the future.