Algebra 2 semester 1 Reflection
Content skill: Setting up exponential growth and decay equations was a challenging topic for me this semester. Learning what into the exponential equation pictured in figure 2 was hard for me. I was able to determine the initial value almost immediately, but I continued to get hung up for quite a while. When I really got to understand this topic was during practice 13 I used the equation so many times during this practice that I was able to finish with pretty solid of how to apply this equation to almost any situation. At a couple points I had to ask peers for help and they were a great resources for me to access and get different perspectives from.
Once I had pretty much mastered doing these equations we started working with log and natural log which actually helped with my original understanding of exponential equations and how to manipulate them as shown in figures 3 and 4.
Once I had pretty much mastered doing these equations we started working with log and natural log which actually helped with my original understanding of exponential equations and how to manipulate them as shown in figures 3 and 4.
Problem solving skills: Responding to the ideas of others, asking clarifying questions,and build on promising ideas and Restating the problem in a different way that adds to our understanding.
During this section of the Unit I didn't have much understanding of what we were working on but by looking at the problems from multiple ways and being able to ask questions of my peers I was able to draw a greater understanding of the work. For example at one point I wasn't sure how to work on a problem like number 1B in exploration 18 and I was able to ask a fellow student for help and he showed me that if i took away the square and wrote the rest of it a second time and multiplied everything times its self then it was the same thing as squaring the equation. I really enjoyed this new format of math class as it encourages critical thinking and looking at other perspectives as potential ways to a problem and then deciding which way works the best.
Spreadsheet Workshop
In this algebra 2 Project we learned how to use spreadsheets to do equations like interest rate, velocity and a discount calculator. Our teacher Dan gave us a document he made with specific things he wanted us to learn. This was a fun project for me to complete because I learned quite a bit about how to use spreadsheets in a lot of everyday ways.There is some great resources contained within these sheets to make these tasks a little easier. The product of my efforts are linked here.