Which Quadratic?
Why do this problem?
This task aims to
encourage learners to develop their ability to communicate their
reasoning and to frame and ask questions. This task requires
learners to make sense of their own understanding, be concise,
listen and reflect on what has been said. This is one of a series
of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills.
Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this
article.
This task also supports
the development of knowledge of transforming graphs.
Possible approach
The task is designed to
work with teams of four with one chosen, in turn, to find the
unknown.
Using a fifth person as
an observer means that feedback can be very specific and works well
either using another learner or an adult.
Here are the
function cards.
Give the teams plenty of time to do the task, allowing
every member of the team to take the role of trying to find the
unknown.
The observer's role
should include checking discussion takes place before an answer is
given and keeping track of the number of questions.
When teams have finished working on the task it is important that
they spend time discussing in groups, and then as a whole class,
how well they worked as a team. They can consider what they have
learned from the experience and what they would do differently next
time, particularly in terms of how to listen to each other and
ensure that all members of the team participate. Your own
observations, as well as those of observers might inform the
discussions.
Finish the session by listing the most useful questions that arose
whilst learners did the task and discuss why they were so
effective.
Key questions
- Was there a question that proved really useful in identifying
the function?
- How well did you listen to each other in your team?
- How did you ensure that everyone had a chance to
contribute?
Possible extension
You may wish to keep the
cards hidden from the person trying to find the rule. Learners may
like to create a set of function cards of their own, or try some of
the other skill-building tasks in
this
article.
Possible support
Reduce the number of
cards by focussing on cards with a particular form of
transformation, such as translation along the x axis. Learners may
like to try one of the other 'What am I?' tasks, which can be found
by going to
this
article.