2 Algebra

These lessons will help students understand how classroom lessons about lines of best fit, slope, quadratic equations, percent of change, polynomials, and the Pythagorean theorem are applicable to future careers.

The lessons address the following questions:

• Lesson 1: How are best-fit lines important in many careers?
• Lesson 2: How might a personal trainer use slope to analyze a workout and plan for future training sessions?
• Lesson 3: How can finding the vertex of a parabola be a useful career skill?
• Lesson 4: How are formulas containing radicals — such as those for sight distance — useful to the military and in other careers?
• Lesson 5: How can the ability to calculate percent of change be important in retail careers?
• Lesson 6: How might a postal worker use polynomials to determine whether boxes of different sizes meet the post office’s shipping requirements?
• Lesson 7: How is the Pythagorean theorem useful to utility workers?
• Lesson 8: How can matrices be used to display and interpret data in various careers?
• Lesson 9: How is the concept of exponential growth important in banking careers?
• Lesson 10: How can using elimination or substitution in a system of equations determine important statistics in sports?

Lessons and relevant careers

Concept/Lesson	Career	Activity
1. Best-fit lines	Marketing analysts, advertising executives, scientists	Scatter plot/best-fit line worksheet
2. Slope	Advertising executives, construction workers, architects	Worksheet: Finding slope
3. Quadratic equations	Landscape architects, pyrotechnicians, civil engineers	Quadratic equation worksheet
4. Radicals	Firefighters, military careers	Worksheet: Freefalling and radicals
5. Percent of change	Retail managers, salespersons	Percent of change worksheet
6. Polynomials	Postal workers, farmers	Polynomial worksheet
7. Pythagorean theorem	Utility workers, construction workers, firefighters	Hurricane scenario worksheet
8. Matrices	Marketing analysts, statisticians	Matrix creation activity
9. Exponential growth	Bankers, automobile salespersons	Exponential growth worksheet
10. Systems of equations	Statisticians, accountants	Basketball statistics worksheet