Professor Kate Poirier | D046 | Fall 2023

Week 3 group assignment

Due Monday, September 18

Animated gif of Lisa Simpson saying to Marge, Homer, and Maggie, "Dad, may I please make an observation?"

Everyone’s HOT topics are improving! Two steps of the 6-point problem-solving framework that can be tricky to begin with are Observations and Questions. You want to make observations and ask questions that are specific to the problem you’re trying to solve and that can actually help you solve the problem.

For this week’s group assignment, as a group:

  1. Dig out the question sheet from a previous week’s HOT topic session.
  2. Locate the question that aligns with Standard 3: Factor a quadratic expression. (Hint: you’re looking for the word “factor” in the instructions; then you’re looking for a quadratic expression.)
  3. The Context step might look something like:
    • Factoring
    • Polynomials
    • Quadratic expressions
    • Division and multiplication of algebraic expressions
    • Any other ideas you have!
  4. For the Observations step, list 10 different observations that are specific to the problem you are trying to solve.
  5. For the Questions step, list 10 different questions you can ask that are specific to this problem (not just questions you could ask about any problem).
  6. The group secretary will post only your Context, Observations, and Questions steps with the title Week 3 group n post (where n is your group number) and select the category Week 3 group post. Don’t forget to include the list of members who contributed to the group post!

You don’t have to actually solve the full problem with all six steps for this week’s group post; you’re just working on maxing out the Observations and Questions steps. You can always check the workbook for ideas for the six steps.

2 Comments

  1. Tais Martinez

    Team members:

    • Tais
    • Omar
    • Brandon
    • Jose
    • Saleh

    Standard 3: Factor a quadratic expression

    Question 7: Factor the expression and simplify your answer as much as possible

    59b^2 – 12b – 5 = ?

    Context:

    • Factoring quadratic expressions
    • Polynomials

    Observations:

    1. There is an expression
    2. There are coefficients
    3. There are 2 subtraction signs
    4. This is a 2-degree expression
    5. The variable is b
    6. The constant coefficient is 5
    7. The highest power is 2
    8. This is a quadratic polynomial
    9. The leading coefficient is 59
    10. There are real numbers

    Questions:

    1. Can we swap the b variable into an x variable instead?
    2. Will we be using “FOIL”?
    3. Do we start by looking for the GCF?
    4. Is this a 2-degree trinomial?
    5. Will we be using parentheses when solving?
    6. Are we going to be using PEMDAS when trying to solve it?
    7. Will we be combing like terms to get our answer?
    8. Are 12 and 5 negative numbers?
    9. What does it mean to factor?
    10. Is the product two binomials?
  2. Elias

    MEMBERS

    Rainer G.

    Emmanuel K.

    Gelber G. .

    Emmanuel O.-

    .Carlos A.

    Leonardo R.

    Elias S.

    Problem 7 ( Week 9/7): 15u^2+17u+4

    Context: 

    Factoring , Polynomials , Exponents and Addition 

    Observations: 

    • There are 3 terms 
    • there is an exponent of 2
    • There is a variable of u
    • There is only one variable
    • This is a degree 2 equation
    • The leading coefficient is 15
    • It is a trinomial
    • There is only one constant  
    • it is a polynomial
    • It is a quadratic equation

    Questions: 

    • What is the leading coefficient?
    • What is the highest degree? 
    • Do I start with the larger term when simplifying? 
    • Do is have to use the quadratic formula?
    • Do we simplify the exponent? 
    • Do we combine like terms?
    • Do we have to use the Order of operations?
    • Do we have to use foil?
    • Will the answers be a fraction or a decimal, and does it matter ?

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