Dana+Unit+Plan

System of Equations & Inequalities

Algebra II

My topic means that my students, already knowing all about equations and inequalities, will discover the properties of systems of equations and inequalities and their practical uses and applications.

Students will ultimately be able to read an optimization problem, create their own systems of equations and inequalities, and graph them (or use elimination or substitution) in order to find solutions, minimums and maximums.

This type of math is relevant to solving problems such as “how much money can we make in x-amount of hours cutting grass and/or pruning”. Other types of problems that are relevant can involve finding the perfect combination of hours or attempts to give a minimum or maximum.

Technology will aide my planning and teaching this unit. I plan using graphing calculators so my students will be able to see different graphs created before them. I also plan on using a Macintosh program called Grapher to display different graphs, intersections, and shading skills for my students. Using a graphing calculator emulator and Grapher on a SmartBoard will allow me to be able to display skills and examples in front of the class.



__Lesson Plans__ : A quick 'get to know your calculator" lesson that associates students with their graphing calculator. This may introduce students to easy commands that will make the next four lessons much more enjoyable and easier by the use of their graphing calculator. : This lesson allows students to discover that graphing a system of equations and finding the intersection can produce the the solution to the system. : This lesson teaches how to graph systems of inequalities to illustrate the set of solutions that satisfy the system. : This lesson introduces Linear Programming and concentrates on the dreaded "word problems". This lesson teaches students how to use the previous two lessons to solve simple AND complex word problems. : Lesson Four further explores Linear Programming and begins to uncover different methods of solving word problems. This lesson includes a possible group work that gets students up and moving around the classroom (I think its a good idea- we'll see how that works in an actual classroom!).