Marbleslides Challenge Set 2!

Marbleslides Challenge Set 2

Here is the second set of Marbleslides Challenges hot off the presses!  These are optional weekly challenges that I give to my classes for fun, high scores and prizes.  If you haven't run the first challenge set, it's totally fine, (and maybe even better) to use this challenge set.  There are some differences and some definite improvements from the first activity.

What's new

There are 30 brand new, varied challenges for students to practice and improve their graphing skills.

Some of these challenges are definitely harder than the first, and fewer challenges can be reasonably completed with just linear equations. I have, however, left some helpful equations scattered through the activity so that students can explore them if they so choose (absolute values, parabolas, circles, and more).  I also loosely grouped challenges near those particular equations where they might be most helpful, but students are still encouraged to complete the challenges however they'd like.

Barriers with hidden equations cannot be deleted by students.

Update:  Jennifer updated Jessica's awesome printable posters to go along with this challenge set which you can find here. Make sure to include your own class code on each slide!

Other notes

Before doing these challenges with your classes, I'd  recommend running through at least one of the original Desmos Marbleslides activities with them (Lines, Parabolas, Exponentials, Rationals or Periodics): https://teacher.desmos.com/search?q=marbleslides

I unlock challenges periodically using the teacher pacing mode in the teacher dashboard of the activity. Last year, I found many students liked to work on more than one in a sitting, so this year I'm going to unlock them in larger chunks, and just put one challenge per week on the score board.

If your students need more of a challenge, encourage them to use fewer equations.  Some of these are incredibly difficult using only one.

If you want more info about how I implement this activity check out my post about challenge set 1.

If you want more info on how to run Desmos activities in general, check out http://learn.desmos.com/activities.

New Marbleslide Challenges

I've been periodically adding Marbleslide Challenges to the master list, and I just added a few more. If you didn't read my original post where I explained how I implement these in my classes, check it out here. Enjoy!

Challenge #9 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/58b835a98e2aabb51caed84f

Challenge #10 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/58f9f949bd944f372ffb85d2

Challenge #11 -  https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/58fa008f773fad060efb8963

Challenge #12 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/58fa0259e0d8b633f260dd64/

Desmos Marbleslide Challenges

This year I've implemented Desmos marbleslide challenges throughout my classes that have been really exciting, fun and educational for my students.  If you aren't familiar with Marbleslides you are totally missing out!  The basic idea is that marbles will fall down from a certain point on a graph, and students need to graph equations to help them collect all of the stars on the screen.  The full, official marbleslides activites are here https://teacher.desmos.com/search?q=marbleslides and they always leave kids wanting more.  

The original activities went so well last year, that I decided to regularly give more marbleslides challenges throughout the year.  I wanted to give activities that anyone familiar with graphing lines could complete with some effort, but that could also provide further challenge for students who know more about graphing.  I started creating single page challenges and posting an advertisement for them on my door and in my classroom along with a high score board from the previous week.

I award scores(not for a grade, just for fun) based on number of stars obtained, creativity, consistency and on using fewer functions. All of the challenges can be completed with multiple linear equations, but I challenge students who know more to use fewer, more complex functions. 

I knew that this would be a fun activity for my students, and could help provide some extra challenge, but it has far exceed my expectations for what it could be.  These  challenges have gotten some of my students really excited about math, graphing and learning about equations.  It has created a need for them to learn more, completely on their own, about different types of graphs and how to manipulate them.  I have had students in my class who have only formally learned about straight lines pulling out answers like this:

Every once in awhile I'll drop a little clue for a new type of equation that might help, and they run with it or search things out on their own.  Here are a few more mind blowing examples from students who've gone way above and beyond my expectations:

(The bearded face is part of the challenge.  The student answered by making a hat!)

The challenges have also helped me to further differentiate and more easily manage my classroom.  Whenever students finish an assignment or assessment early, I point them to a challenge and off they go.  I'm really happy that I started these challenges, and if you try them at your school I hope that work out as well for you as they have for me!

If you'd like take a shot at one of the marbleslides challenges yourself, give this one a try.

If you want to try to implement these are your school, here at the first 8 challenges I used this year, and I will continue adding to this list.

#1 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/57e52bcfb2f6f32507db1a18

#2 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/57ee5bd5b3b240fe050581c8

#3 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/580e515ad08d01c809f19d13

#4 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/57f6a27d2101b9e90587bce9

#5 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/581c962ce943d4a012362f02

- by Suzanne Von Oy

#6 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/583dd636b60af2af1daf4043

#7 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/586cfdafaaaa98a305054eca

#8 - https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/589dd7da46d4f6ac0593c440

Uptown factors (Factoring song parody of Uptown Funk)

Hello and Happy New Year!  I posted this on YouTube months ago, but in case you missed it here's our factoring based parody of Uptown Funk!   Also, keep an out on my blog. I make no promises, but I may make a few blog posts this year!




Lyrics:
Gon’ factor, gon’ factor, factor
Gon’ factor, gon’ factor, factor
Gon’ factor, gon’ factor

Let’s start this lesson
Learn to factor expressions
This one for those students
The blueprints for mastery
Sittin', Gettin’ a factoring education. 
Take a sum or a difference
and make it a multiplication

When you see (x squared)
Without a number in front of it
plus bx (b x)
Standard form for a quad-rat-ic
then plus c (constant) 
that’s x squared plus b x plus c 
Standard form (aw yeah) 
factor that tri-no-mial 
break it down.

x squared plus bx plus c
x squared plus bx plus c 
x squared plus bx plus c 
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression
Parentheses, x’s and fill in the spots
Multiply and Add up (come on)
Multiply and Add up uh

Multiply and Add up
Multiply and Add up 
Multiply and Add up
Multiply and Add up
Hey, hey, hey, oh

Stop, wait a minute
See those spots? Put those numbers in em
Write the signs, then you check
Ms McCool, Bring it back

Write parentheses, x’s
find the pair of factors
multiply to c, and add to b
That’s a skill that you can all master 

When you see (x squared)
Without a number in front of it
plus bx (b x)
Standard form for a quad-rat-ic
then plus c (constant)
that’s x squared plus b x plus c
Standard form (aw yeah). Other video?
factor that tri-no-mial
break it down

x squared plus bx plus c
x squared plus bx plus c
x squared plus bx plus c 
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression 
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression
Now I’m gon’ factor this expression
Parentheses, x’s and fill in the spots
Multiply and Add up (come on) 
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up
Multiply and Add up
Hey, hey, hey, oh

Before we leave
What if there’s a number with x squared?
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up uh
I said Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up

Take ‘a’ then slide it
to 'c’ and then multiply em
Find the factors then divide em
by a, reduce on both sides and
Bring the bottoms up beside x
When you factor let this guide ya:

Parentheses, xs and fill in the spots 
Multiply and Add up come on!
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up uh
Multiply and Add up
Multiply and Add up
Hey, hey, hey, oh
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up (say what?) 
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up (say what?)
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up (say what?)
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up (say what?)
Slide, Divide, Bottoms up

Graph Shop - A Thrift Shop Parody

Hey everybody!  I made a music video with some of my current and former students about graphing lines using slope and y-intercept.  So here it is!  Lyrics are below.



Schooltube version coming soon.
You can download the audio here.

I'm gonna graph some lines
Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

Walk up to the class like, "What up, class is in session" 

I'm so pumped about today's sick math lesson
Graph on the board, skills so absurd
That people like, "Man! That is one dope math nerd."
Rollin' in, hecka deep, in my class you'll never sleep,
Getting that slope and y-intercept on the screen
Draped in my corduroy, students sit in front of me
Probably should get on with this, makin' it rain practice sheets 

Let's make... Graphing lines make sense!
You'll be solvin' it, graphin' it, and now its time to start Mathin it' 
Dashin' up on this problem when you finish you'll be trashin' it
Solve for y where's it hidin'
Add and subtract to both sides and
Multiply and divide
Move things away from the y, kids

I'ma get that y alone, I'ma get that y alone,
No for real - slope intercept - that's 
Y equals m x plus b
Claw it, combine it, get y alone too
Reverse PEMDAS tells you what to move
Now what's that next to X? The slope is next to X! 
And what's that number left? Must be the intercept! 
the b, the b, the y-intercept is b
Start on the y axis, graphs begin with the b
Now go and take the m now, the slope is next you see
Use the rise then run for every point you need

I'm gonna graph some lines
Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

Let's get that y alone, 
That's slope intercept form, 
Let's get that y alone 
For that slope intercept form

Let's get that y alone, 
That's slope intercept form, 
Let's get that y alone 
For that slope intercept form

I'm gonna graph some lines

Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

How I see exponent rules (and log rules)

Exponent rules can be difficult to remember, and memory has never been one of my strong suits. When I was in high school myself learning exponent rules, I would get mixed up just trying to remember them individually, and had to come up with a different way of thinking to condense it into one idea.  What I came up with deals with the levels of complexity of operations:

So, you've got your simple functions on the bottom, multiplication and division are a little more complex, and then exponents and roots are more complex. The actual chart above I created after the fact when trying to explain the idea to students later in life.  So, basically when it came to exponent rules all I had to remember was to "go down a level" of complexity.

So multiplication becomes addition, division becomes subtraction, an exponent to an exponent becomes multiplication and a root with an exponent becomes division. The chart also helps for remembering when to distribute. Operations distribute on to the tier below them. (exponents distribute over multiplication and division for example)  

My results with trying to get students to see the same thing I do has been mixed.  I usually end up doing an exploratory learning exercise with exponents , then going through the rules individually and only quickly going through this chart idea on the side.  While it doesn't really connect with every student, when a particular student gets the rules mixed up it can really help because it at least gives them a plan rather than just relying on straight memorization.

Later on, when I learned about logs it turned out that log rules (surprising to me at the time, not so much anymore) followed along the same lines, with exponents becoming multiplication, multiplication become addition, etc. 

Anyone else ever think of it this way?  Have some other strategy for helping students get exponent rules straight?  Let me know!

Angry Birds Geogebra

Angry Birds is a pretty popular game with the kids nowadays.  My students brought up the game when we started talking about parabolas and I've been working on a way to bring that connection into a class.  So, I created a lesson using GeoGebra and some screenshots from Angry Birds mixed in with some inspiration from Dan's Will The Ball Hit The Can?

I created 4 GeoGebra files each with a piece of a different Angry birds shot like so:

Using GeoGebra, students worked in groups of 2 on their laptops to place points onto the bird's trail as accurately as possible to create a quadratic models in order to decide if the bird would score a direct hit on any of the pigs.  If you had 4 points labeled A-D, for instance, the GeoGebra command would be FitPoly[A, B, C, D, 2]

Some commands that helped them place their points accurately:
CTRL=  Zooms in
CTRL- Zooms out
CTRL CLICK DRAG  Pans your view

Once students finished their files would look something similar to the file shown here:


Sorry, the GeoGebra Applet could not be started. Please make sure that Java 1.4.2 (or later) is installed and active in your browser (Click here to install Java now)


We then discussed if they thought they scored a hit, what would happen when it hit, and then showed them the big reveal:

Overall, the students were engaged, worked hard to get their answers, and learned how to use GeoGebra to create quadratic models.  If you'd like the files I used you can find them here:  Angry Birds GeoGebra files

PS- I'm muddling through learning GeoGebra, so if you know of a better way to do things than I'm doing, let me know.