Hello SAVY parents!  Students were able to create a foldable that would allow them to remember the various types of graphs we have been using to record data. Today, we added new vocabulary terms to our word wall:  slope, positive slope, and negative slope.

The emphasis today was on analyzing change.  We were able to study how change in one variable is related to change in another.  Tables and coordinate graphs were used to assist students in the data analysis process as they organized information to aid in the search for number patterns.

In the morning lesson, students investigated linear relationships by assuming a constant rate of speed for a man walking across the ocean.  They completed a table and a scatter plot (a graph of unconnected dots representing the ordered pairs from the table) showing the relationship of time to distance.  The students noticed that the rate of change was constant, which meant that all points would lie on the same line.  Next, they compared Mr. Bricka’s record to the record of Mr. Strel by plotting the data on the same graph.  In the new scenario, a man swims for the same amount of time as the man walking across the ocean (60 days) but travels half the distance.  Students made a table for this scenario and then graphed the distance traveled against the time for both scenarios and compared the two graphs, paying careful attention to the steepness or slope of the lines and what the difference in the steepness indicated.  In both cases, because of the assumed constant rate of travel, students were able to explain why the points for each graph all lie on the same line when they were plotted demonstrating that they understood the term, linear relationships.

Thank you so much for another successful day, and I look forward to our final session of fun and learning tomorrow!