Lesson 5: Graphing Linear Functions

Module 5: Linear Functions

Connect

Take time now to complete your Graphing Linear Functions: Summary of Strategies document that you saved to your course folder. Be sure to include at least two strategies for graphing linear functions in general form.

Lesson Assessment

Complete the lesson quiz posted under the Quizzes link to the left in moodle or under the Assess tab and ensure your work in your binder (course folder) is complete. 

 

Project Connection **NOT ASSIGNED**

A velodrome is an arena built for track cycling. Velodromes feature banked tracks that allow a cyclist to travel at a high speed even while riding through turns in the track. In this section you will investigate the graph of a cyclist travelling at a constant speed.

 

The distance that a cyclist travels, y metres, with respect to the time elapsed, x seconds, is given by the equation 15x − 2y = 0. You will use this information to complete the Module 5: Lesson 5 component of the Unit 3 Project.

 

Going Beyond

 

Correlation is a measure of how a change in one variable affects the change in another variable. If the increase in one variable results in the increase of another variable, then there is a positive correlation between the two variables. For example, for any basketball player, there may be a positive correlation between the number of shots taken and the number of points obtained. As the number of shots increases, the number of points increases.

 

On the other hand, if the increase in one variable results in the decrease of another variable, then there is a negative correlation between the two variables. For example, for a person on a weight-loss program, an increased amount of exercise is beneficial. Therefore, there is a negative correlation between exercise and weight since increased amounts of physical activity result in a decreased weight.

 

Do some research on correlation. Find out the answers to the following questions:

• How can you tell the difference between graphs representing a positive correlation and those representing a negative correlation?

• How do you know if a graph exhibits strong or weak correlation?

• What is the correlation coefficient, and how does it measure correlation?

• How is the correlation coefficient similar to, and different from, the slope of the line of best fit?

• How would you qualitatively describe the relationship between two variables whose data has a correlation coefficient of r = 1? Can you give an example of data that would have a correlation coefficient of 1?

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