LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Smokey Bear takes algebra

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L381

A lesson plan for Grades 9–12 Algebra 2

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
9–12
Subjects
mathematics (algebra, applied mathematics)
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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This lesson introduces students to the many factors that play a role in creating a forest-fire danger rating index. They will be looking at how we use a scale to quantify the abstract idea of forest fire danger. Using the real-world situation, students examine the meaning of the slope and intercepts of a line. To complete the activities related to these indexes, students should be comfortable with linear, quadratic and exponential functions and their graphs. Students’ facility with a graphing calculator is assumed. Students also use summation notation to do the activities relating to the Nesterov index. Illuminations provides activity sheets, links to helpful web resources, and detailed instructions for completing the lesson.

Students will:

  • Explain the relationship between relative humidity, temperature and the likelihood of fire danger.
  • Explain the real-world meaning of the intercepts and slope in the Angstrom index.
  • Use summation notation to find the Nesterov index for each of the thirty-one days in August.
  • Use graphing calculators to find equations to model the relationship between the slope of the land versus rate of fire spread.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

  • Use symbolic expressions, including iterative and recursive forms, to represent relationships arising from various contexts.
  • Analyze functions of one variable by investigating rates of change, intercepts, zeros, asymptotes, and local and global behavior.
  • Generalize patterns using explicitly defined and recursively defined functions.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grades 9–12 — Algebra 2

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will perform operations with complex numbers, matrices, and polynomials.
  • Goal 2: Algebra - The learner will use relations and functions to solve problems.
    • Objective 2.05: Use rational equations to model and solve problems; justify results.
      • Solve using tables, graphs, and algebraic properties.
      • Interpret the constants and coefficients in the context of the problem.
      • Identify the asymptotes and intercepts graphically and algebraically.