Middle Grades Math: Words for Algebra

Objectives

• Students will explore the nature and needs of a word problem and look at the expression and equations implied by the situation.
• Students will explore the graph of the function that best models the scenario in the word problem and examine the relationship between the values available for the Domain and Range as they relate to the context of the problem.
• Students will focus on the real number types needed in the situation and examine these data types graphically, numerically, and analytically.

Vocabulary

• expression
• equation
• solution
• whole numbers
• rational numbers
• domain
• range

About the Lesson

This lesson involves starting with the context of a word problem and then examining it from several different perspectives in an effort to build expressions and equations that model the problem
As a result, students will:

• Consider elements of the situation that determine the data types that must be used.
• Operate under the following constraints:
  1. fruit will be sold to the nearest hundredth, or thousandth of a Newton, but pencils are only sold in whole number quantities; and
  2. a set amount of money.