Lesson 1: Identifying Linear Relations

Math 10C Module 5: Lesson 1

Module 5: Linear Functions

Lesson 1: Identifying Linear Relations

Focus

This shows a photo of a woman preparing to serve a volleyball.

Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock

An important skill in volleyball is the serve. A well-served ball can result in a quick point for your team, whereas a poorly served ball can result in a point for the opposition and loss of service. There are many variables that make a serve difficult for the other team to return. Besides the accuracy of the serve, the spin, speed, and height of the ball are all factors.

If you were to graph the volleyball’s path from the moment it is served until the moment it makes contact with either the ground or a player on the other side of the net, what would the graph’s shape be? Would it be a straight line or a curved line? What if you graphed the relationship between how hard a ball is served compared to how far the ball travels?

In Module 4 you learned about relations. In this lesson you will learn to distinguish between linear and non-linear relations. You will also learn how to identify linear relations expressed as graphs, tables, ordered pairs, and other representations.

Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to do the following:
-> determine whether a situation, a graph, a table of values, an equation, or a set of ordered pairs represents a linear relation, and explain why or why not

-> draw a graph from a set of ordered pairs within a given situation, and determine whether the relationship between the variables is linear

-> match corresponding representations of linear relations

Lesson Questions

How can you distinguish a linear relation from a non-linear relation?
How can the concept of slope be used to identify a linear relation?

Lesson Completion and Assessment

As you work through each lesson, complete all the questions and learning activities in your binder using paper and pencil, clearly labeling your work (they refer to this as your course folder). These include the Are you Ready, Try This, Share and Self Check questions. Check your work if answers are provided. Remember that these questions provide you with the practice and feedback that you need to successfully complete this course.
Once you have completed all of the learning activities, take the Lesson Quiz. This is the assessment for each lesson and is located under the Activities block on the left in moodle or under the Assess tab.

** Note – Share questions may have to be done on your own depending on your learning situation**

receive more information about how to complete the assignment later in this lesson.