Monday, September 12, 2011

Today we began with this exquisitely crafted opener (pdf). We then reviewed a bit about how to graph points on a coordinate plane and then did a bunch of review problems on distributive property, solving equations with variables on both sides, graphing on a coordinate plane, percents and dimensional analysis (lesson, pdf).

Your homework for tonight is:

1. What is considered the Earth's x-axis? Its y-axis? What quadrant is AHS in? Please write this down in your notebook. How is the Earth different than the x-axis and y-axis on a coordinate plane that we're talking about?
   
   
2. Complete the Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides Pre-Assessment on the Moodle.
   
   (Reminder: your login is your google apps login - including the @lpsk12.org part, and your google apps password. If you've forgotten those, you can look them up on the portal; once you've logged in, click on Technology and it will list your google apps login and password.)
   
   This pre-assessment is very important and will be your best indicator of how well you'll do on the assessment on Wednesday. Please do it tonight so, if you have any difficulties, you can get some help tomorrow before the assessment on Wednesday.
   
   
3. On your personal blog, create a new blog post where you explain how you solve this equation:
   
   
   3(x - 5) = -7x + 12
   
   Don't just solve the problem (although that should be part of what you include), but explain your thought process for each step. Like your previous post, try to write this post as if you were explaining this process to someone who didn't know anything about solving equations with variables on both sides. They should be able to read your post and have a pretty decent understanding of how to approach a problem like this.
   
   This blog post is due by first period on Wednesday, but I highly recommend you do it tonight so that, if you have difficulties (either with the blogging or the concept of solving equations), you can come in and get some help on Tuesday.
   
   
4. Optional: If you need or would like some more practice problems with solving equations with variables on both sides, check out this unlimited supply of problems (and solutions) at Coolmath or, alternatively, these at Khan Academy. Do as few or as many as you need until you feel confident in your ability to solve these types of equations. If you find that you struggle, please come in for some extra help tomorrow.