Lesson 2

1. Lesson 2

Mathematics 30-1 Module 3

Module 3: Polynomial Functions

Lesson 2: Factoring Polynomials

Focus

You may look at the mountain range in the image and words like majestic, rugged, or wilderness might come to mind. How about the word polynomial?

This is a picture of mountains reflecting in a lake.

Stockbyte/Thinkstock

Part of the contour of the peaks can be represented by a polynomial of degree 3.

This is a picture of mountains reflecting in a lake with a curve overlaid that outlines the mountains.

adapted from Stockbyte/Thinkstock

In lesson 1 you saw how useful the expanded and factored forms of polynomial functions are for identifying end behavior and x- and y-intercepts. Up until now, you have been given the factored form for any polynomial of degree 3 or higher.

This is the graph of a polynomial function of degree 3.

In this lesson you will learn how to determine the equivalent factored forms of cubic and higher-degree functions like the one modelling the mountain range.

Lesson Outcome

At the end of this lesson you will be able to factor polynomials of degree 3 and higher.

Lesson Questions

You will investigate the following questions:

How is polynomial division related to numeric division?
How do you know when a number or binomial is a factor of another number or polynomial?

Assessment

Your assessment may be based on a combination of the following tasks:

completion of the Lesson 2 Assignment (Download the Lesson 2 Assignment and save it in your course folder now.)
course folder submissions from Try This and Share activities
additions to Glossary Terms and Formula Sheet