Introducing Systems of Equations

Every year I attend NCTM and every year I come home excited to try new things.  This year was no different.  I am willing to try new things in my classroom, but sometimes just the planning time is overwhelming with all of the other duties we have. 

This week I am teaching systems of equations to my Algebra 2 classes.  So I went to the internet for inspiration on introducing the topic....something along the lines of Dan Myer's Three Acts.  In my search, I stumbled upon his Makeover Internet Plan blog post.  You can find it HERE.    He took a textbook internet cafe word problem and changed it to choosing between gym membership plans.

I did just a bit of tweaking to help it match my teaching style but I really liked the way my intro went with my students.  I especially liked putting their choices on the board as a graph for them to see the turn over point for the plans. 

My students were more engaged and were able to see how linear lines could help in business planning.  (I also teach business math so I often make my "where will I use this" a little more business oriented.)    They were easily able to write the equations of the lines then and engaged in some great discussions about the three plans, why they never intersected, etc.  Desmos.com was a great aid for showing why the change occurs.

I liked the idea so much that I then followed it up with using Beth Ferguson's makeover for independent practice for my students. (Go HERE.) Although my students picked up the gist of the math, they have some work to do on their letter writing.  ;)