Lesson 3: Slope Intercept Form

Module 5: Linear Functions

Lesson 3: Slope-Intercept Form

Focus

The high jump is one of the oldest Olympic disciplines. Athletes compete to see who can jump the highest over a horizontal bar onto a pad on the other side. In each round of the competition, the bar is raised by equal increments.

 

Over the years, the jumping techniques have evolved. Early techniques included the scissors technique, the Western roll, and the Fosbury flop, which is shown in the photo. The last technique is named for Dick Fosbury, who pioneered the approach and used it to win the gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Just as there are many ways of executing a high jump in competition, so are there different ways of expressing a linear relation. In this lesson you will study a particular method of expressing the equation of a linear relation. You will also learn how to use this type of expression to graph linear relations and identify their characteristics, namely the slope and the y-intercept.

At the end of this lesson, you will have a chance to analyze high jump world records and compare these marks to what you have learned about linear relations and the slope-intercept equation.

Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to

• identify the graph that corresponds to a given slope and y-intercept

• determine the slope and the y-intercept of a given linear relation from its graph, and write the equation in the form y = mx + b

• solve a contextual problem that involves intercepts, slope, domain, or range of a linear relation

Lesson Questions

• How does the equation of a linear function relate to its graph?

• How are the properties of linear functions applied to studying and solving problems?

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**

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