Lesson Plan - Get It!
Audio:
Vocabulary (All definitions can be found at A Maths Dictionary For Kids Quick Reference by clicking on the terms):
This lesson focuses on how to take an equation, and data computed from that equation, and create a graph.
Consider the following math problem:
Lee paints race cars. Lee receives $160 for each race car he paints. How much money will Lee receive if he paints 3 race cars, 6 race cars, and 10 race cars? Develop a graph to represent the data from this problem.
- Your first step is to understand the problem. You can see that each time Lee paints a race car, he is paid $160. The problem wants you to figure out how much money Lee will receive if he paints 3, 6, and 10 race cars.
- The next step is to write an equation representing the problem. Let the variable y represent the amount of money Lee receives after painting the race cars. Let x represent the number of race cars Lee paints. Your equation would look like the following:
y = 160x
- Remember, the number 160 in the equation represents the amount of money per car Lee receives when he is finished painting one car.
- Step three is to set up a table. This table will help you figure out the data for the problem. See the table below:
- Remember, the variable x represents the number of race cars Lee paints. You know how much he gets paid if he paints 1 race car, so you should include the number 1 in the x column. Include the number 2 just to make sure you understand how to compute the answer for y. The rest of the numbers you should place in the x column should come from the original problem (3, 6, 10). See below for the completed portion of the table:
- The middle column is where you are going to do your calculations. For example, for the quantity of 1, the equation in the middle column should look like y = 160(1). The number "one" in the parentheses represents the quantity of race cars Lee has painted, which in this case is one. See the table below with this information filled in:
x |
y = 160x |
y |
1 |
y = 160(1) |
|
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
10 |
|
|
- To find the value of y, multiply 160 and 1. The value of y is 160. See below with this information filled in:
x |
y = 160x |
y |
1 |
y = 160(1) |
160 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
10 |
|
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- Calculate the value for y for the remaining x values using the same process (A completed table and the answers for the problem are located at the end of this section of the lesson.).
- Answer the questions from the problem, "How much money will Lee receive if he paints 3 race cars, 6 race cars, and 10 race cars?"
- The last step of this problem is to develop a graph representing the data you computed in the table. You will develop a bar graph.
- Before constructing your bar graph, watch the following How-to...Draw a Bar Graph video:
![Image - Video](images/video_placeholder.png)
- Below are the steps you will need to take when making your own bar graph for the problem. You may find it easier to draw your graph on a piece of graph paper.
- Draw your x- and y- axes. Remember, your x-axis values will be the number of race cars Lee paints, and your y-axis values will be the amount of money Lee receives as payment (See below):
![graph for 10a graph for 10a](_userimages/10901-graph10a.JPG)
- Label your x- and y-axes (See below):
![graph for 10b graph for 10b](_userimages/10901-graph10b.JPG)
- Now it is time to graph your data. Look at the table you made above. You know that if Lee paints 1 race car, he receives a payment of $160. On your graph, you are going to draw a rectangle that begins above the number one on the x-axis and ends at 160 on the y-axis. In the example above, you will not see the number 160 on the y-axis, so you will have to estimate where your rectangle or bar ends (See below):
![graph for 10c graph for 10c](_userimages/10901-graph10c.JPG)
- Complete putting the rest of the data into your graph (See below):
![graph for 10d graph for 10d](_userimages/10901-graph10d.JPG)
Congratulations! You have just completed making your first graph that relates to an equation!
Check your answers to see how you did.
![Image - Video](images/video_placeholder.png)
Now, go back to the activity at the beginning of the lesson (Honey Production) and complete it.
The Got It? section offers you opportunities to practice the skill of creating a graph that relates to an equation.