TKA Advanced Algebra/Trigonometry Students Experience Mathematics in Action

At a glance, Mrs. Zuber’s Advanced Algebra/Trigonometry classroom looks like it has been abandoned.  Students left their paper, pencils, and books behind as they went outside to experience mathematics in action.

Students have been studying parabolas as equations to describe the trajectory of an object.  Today’s lesson brought the concept to life as Jinxu Gu kicked the soccer ball across the parking lot from Jason Wu to Callie Greene.  Jason Wu and Anya Santee held the ends of the ribbon, which represent the roots or zeroes, which is where the parabola would intersect the x-axis drawn on the asphalt.  Mrs. Zuber was in the background watching the class implement their plans, and she was eager to share how proud she is of the students designing their lesson, planning the logistics of the activity, and applying mathematics to real life situations.

After the students carefully observed the path of the soccer ball’s trajectory, they used a tape measure and the coordinate plane they had previously engineered to calculate the coordinates of the vertex of the parabola.  Ben Morin held the ribbon in place to mark the vertex on the class’s parabola while Callie Greene, Jinxu Gu, and Nickolas Tilley calculated the height of the vertex.  The hands-on math lesson piqued the interest of elementary students walking to and from lunch.  Even though the fifth grade class had not studied parabolas yet, they recognized the coordinate plane drawn on the ground.  This activity left younger students thinking, “I can’t wait to do that!”