Algebra I Honors Projects

First 9 Weeks: Checks & Balances

Due Date: Friday, October 21st

When there is something you really want to buy, do you already have money saved for it? Or, do you put money aside each week until you can afford it? Maybe you just dream about it! A budget for your money can help you make dreams become reality. As you work through the activities, you will use equations to help model your personal nances. You will develop spreadsheets to analyze your weekly budget, including regular savings. You will use percents to make graphs. Then you will display and present your budget plan using graphs and spreadsheets.

List of Materials Newspapers or catalogs Internet Protractor Calculator Graph paper

Activities
Activity 1: Researching Think of several items you would like to buy for less than $150 a piece, such as a CD player, sports equipment, or clothing. Find the prices of these items using ads or by visiting several stores. What factors other than price should you consider? Explain. After completing your research, choose one item that you would like to buy. Explain your decision. If you can nd the item on sale for 25% off, how much would you save? What would the item cost?

Activity 2: Modeling To write a successful budget, you need to consider savings. Geraldo has already saved $40 and wants to buy a CD player for $129 about four months from now. To nd how much he should save each week between now and then, he wrote 40 1 16x 5 129. Explain his equation. In Activity 1, you chose one item to purchase as the goal for your project. How much does it cost? When do you want to buy this item? Write and solve an equation to nd how much you should save per week to achieve this goal. Suppose you earn $15 per week. What percent of your weekly earnings will you need to save? What if you earn $125 per week? What percent of your weekly earnings will you need to save? Is this more or less than the percent you would save if you only earned $15 per week?

Activity 3: Organizing A spreadsheet can help you organize your information. Begin your budget by recording the amount of money you earn, the amount of money you save, and the amount of money you spend for two weeks. Analyze your expenses to plan how much you can spend each week while still meeting your savings goal. Design a spreadsheet to show all of the important categories in your budget plan. Include a column or row to show the total you will have saved by the end of each week. Will you reach your savings goal when you planned? Enter dollar amounts on your spreadsheet and verify that your budget works. What percent of your budget is allocated to savings? What percent of your budget is allocated to other activities?

Activity 4: Graphing Make a circle graph for the personal budget you wrote in Activity 3. In a table, show the dollar amounts, percents, and degree measures of the angles you used to draw the graph.

Finishing the Project The answers to the four activities should help you complete your project. Assemble all the parts of your project (including the research on what you would like to buy, your expenses record, your spreadsheet, and your circle graph) on a poster board. Are the expenses you recorded for two weeks typical for you? Does your budget support your purchase goal? Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of your budget.

Second 9 Weeks: The Choice is Yours

Due Date: Friday, January 13th

Do you have a job? If not, what will your rst job be? What expenses will you have? How much money will you actually earn? How can you compare earnings between two jobs? Linear equations can help answer all of these questions. As you work through the activities, you will make graphs and write equations that model earnings for different jobs. After interviewing someone about his or her rst job, you will choose a job that you might like and will explain why you made that choice. List of Materials Calculator Graph paper Activities Activity 1: Graphing Find the starting hourly wage for two jobs that interest you. For each job, write an equation that gives the income y for working x hours. With hours worked (0 to 10) on the horizontal axis and income on the vertical axis, graph your two equations. Suppose you work eight hours in one day. Explain how your graph shows the difference in income for the two jobs.

Activity 2: Modeling Suppose you earn $8.50/h at a bakery. From your rst paycheck you determine that $2.15/h is withheld for taxes and benets. You work x hours during a ve-day week and you spend $3.75 each day for lunch. Write an equation for your weekly earnings after taxes, benets, and lunch expenses. In this situation, what do the slope and the y-intercept represent? How many hours must you work to earn $120 after taxes, benets, and lunch expenses?

Activity 3: Interviewing Interview an adult about a job he or she had as a teenager. Ask about positive and negative aspects of the job, salary, and expenses. Write an equation that describes the persons weekly earnings after expenses. Finishing the Project The answers to the three activities should help you complete your project. Work with several classmates. Share what you learned about jobs for teenagers. List positive and negative aspects of income and expenses for several jobs. On your own, organize your graphs, equations, and job information in a poster. Write a nal paragraph that explains what job you would like and why. Reect and Revise You should present job-comparison information in a well-organized format. Your graphs should be easy to understand. Be sure you have explained clearly how your equations model each income. Make any revisions necessary to improve your project.

Third 9 Weeks: Lets Dance!

Due Date: Friday, March 16th

Suppose you are the student council member that is responsible for planning a student dinner dance. Plans include hiring a band and buying and serving dinner. You want to keep the ticket price as low as possible to encourage student attendance. As you work through the following activities, you will use systems of equations to analyze costs and make decisions. You will write a report detailing your choice of band, the cost of a catering service, and your ticket price recommendation. List of Materials Calculator Graph paper

Activities Activity 1: Graphing Band A charges $600 to play for the evening. Band B charges $350 plus $1.25 for each ticket sold. Write a linear equation for the cost of each band. Graph each equation and nd the number of tickets for which the cost of the two bands would be equal.

Activity 2: Calculating A caterer charges a xed cost for preparing a dinner plus an additional cost for each person served. You know that the cost for 100 students will be $750 and the cost for 150 students will be $1050. Find the caterers xed cost and the cost per student served.

Activity 3: Writing Use your information from Activities 1 and 2. Assume that 200 students attend the dance. Write a report listing which band you would choose and the cost per ticket that you need to charge to cover expenses. Repeat the process assuming that 300 students attend.

Activity 4: Graphing In Activity 3, you found two ticket prices. Each price covers the cost of the dinner dance under certain conditions. Plan for between 200 and 300 people, that is x > 200 and x < 300. If your objective is to keep the ticket price as low as possible, even at the risk of not covering your costs, which ticket price would you select? Based on this choice, write a linear equation that gives the total amount collected for ticket sales. Change your equation to an inequality to indicate that this represents the least amount of money you expect to collect from ticket sales. If your objective is to be sure that you are able to cover the cost of the dinner dance, which ticket price would you select? Based on this choice, write a linear equation that gives the total amount collect for ticket sales. Change your equation to an inequality to indicate that this represents the greatest amount of money you expect to collect from ticket sales. The two inequalities you have written, along with x>200 and x<300,form a system of linear inequalities. Graph this system to show the total amount received from ticket sales.

Finishing the Project The answer to the four activities should help you complete your project. Your poster report should include your analysis of the cost for dinner and each band, depending on how many people buy tickets. Include your recommended ticket price and note any conditions under which this ticket price leads to a loss for the event. Illustrate your reasoning with graphs of linear equations and inequalities.

Fourth 9 Weeks: On A Clear Day!

Due Date: Friday, June 1st

Suppose its a clear day and you have a view of the horizon with no obstructions. The view may not be as clear as it might be from an air trafc control tower, but it is fairly clear. How far would you be able to see to the horizon? You can use the Pythagorean Theorem and other concepts in this chapter to nd this distance. As you work through the chapter project, you will determine the distances you would be able to see to the horizon if you could stand on any planet, including Earth. Your project should include diagrams of the planets, formulas for the visible distances, and graphs of these formulas. List of Materials Calculator Graph paper Activities Activity 1: Writing In this activity, you will use the Pythagorean Theorem to write a formula. How many feet are in 1 mile? How would you convert 15 ft to miles? How would you represent h feet in miles?

In the diagram above replace h with the expression that represents h feet in miles. In this diagram, r represents the radius of the planet in miles, d is the distance that is visible to the horizon in miles, and h is height in feet. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to write an equation relating r, d, and h. Solve the equation for d.

Activity 2: Calculating Explain why the formula found in Activity 1 is approximately equivalent to rh/2640 d= Activity 3: Researching Do research to nd the radii of the planets in our solar system. Express your answers in miles. Activity 4: Communicating In this activity, you will use the formula from Activity 2 and the data collected for Activity 3. rh/2640 Using d = and the radius of Earth in Activity 3, determine how far you can see on a clear day. rh/2640 Solve the formula d = for h. Using the radii found in Activity 3, determine how tall a person would have to be on Earth to see 7 mi to the horizon. How tall would a person have to be on Saturn to see 7 mi to the horizon? Could a person possibly see 7 mi to the horizon on Earth? on Saturn? Why or why not?

Activity 5: Graphing Select any two planets in our solar system. rh/2640 Using the formula d = and the planet radii you determined in Activity 3, write a formula for each planet you selected that gives the visible distance d you can see to the horizon of the planet on a clear day. Graph each formula. Compare the graphs.

Finishing the Project Prepare a visual display and a report of your results. You should include the formulas and graphs for the two planets of your choice, and the formulas for height on Earth and Saturn when visible distance to the horizon is known.

Reect and Revise Your display should include a comparison of distances and graphs for the two planets. Check that your formulas and graphs are clearly labeled and easy to understand. Be sure that you have included the formulas for height on Earth and Saturn when visible distance to the horizon is known.

Rubrics
Project Manager: Checks and Balances Getting Started Read the project. As you work on the project, you will need newspapers or catalogs, a protractor, a calculator, and materials to make accurate and attractive graphs. Keep all of your work for the project in a folder. Checklist Suggestions Activity 1: pricing items Activity 2: writing and solving equations Activity 3: preparing a budget Activity 4: making a circle graph Budget spreadsheet Scoring Rubric 4! Equations are correct and calculations are accurate. The spreadsheet shows detail, a good understanding of budget planning, is easy to follow, and is accurate. The circle graph is accurate and labeled carefully. Clear and correct explanations show good reasoning. A complete and accurate data table is made. 3! Equations are correct with minor calculation errors. The spreadsheet is correctly laid out but contains minor errors. The circle graph is neat but some of the labels are incorrect. Explanations show good reasoning but some sentences are unclear. The data table is mostly accurate. 2! Equations are incorrect. The spreadsheet could be better organized and show more detail. The graph is incorrectly labeled. Explanations are incomplete and incorrect. 1 ! Major elements of the project are incomplete or missing. 0 Project is not turned in or shows no efforts. Your Evaluation of Project Evaluate your work, based on the Scoring Rubric.

Project Manager: The Choice Is Yours Getting Started Read the project. As you work on the project, you will need a calculator, graph paper, materials on which you will record your calculations, and materials to make accurate and attractive graphs. Keep all of your work for the project in a folder. Checklist Suggestions Activity 1: writing and graphing equations Activity 2: interpreting equations Activity 3: interviewing an adult Project display

Scoring Rubric 3 Equations are written correctly, thoroughly explained, and accurate. Graphs are effective and labeled correctly. The folder is well organized and provides useful information. 2 Equations are essentially correct with minor errors in calculations. Reasoning and explanations are essentially correct, but should be more thorough. Graphs may contain minor errors in scale or may be labeled incorrectly. The folder presents clear information, but needs to be better organized. 1 Equations are inaccurate and the folder lacks organization. Graphs could be neater and more accurate. Explanations lack detail. 0 Major elements of the project are incomplete or missing. Your Evaluation of Project Evaluate your work, based on the Scoring Rubric.

Teachers Evaluation of Project:

Project Manager: Lets Dance Getting Started Read the project. As you work on the project, you will need a calculator, materials on which you will record your calculations, and materials to make accurate and attractive graphs. Keep all of your work for the project in a folder. Checklist Suggestions Activity 1: graphing equations Activity 2: nding xed and per-person costs Activity 3: writing a report Activity 4: graphing linear inequalities Cost analysis Scoring Rubric 3 The report demonstrates sound reasoning and includes a detailed analysis of the cost for dinner and each band based on the number of tickets sold. The student writes accurate linear equations and inequalities. The graphs are neat and have the appropriate scales and labels. All calculations are correct. 2 The report demonstrates sound reasoning but needs more detail. There are minor errors in the linear equations and inequalities. Graphs and calculations are mostly correct. 1 The report lacks essential details. Linear equations and inequalities have some problems. Graphs and calculations lack accuracy. 0 Major elements of the project are incomplete or missing. Your Evaluation of Project Evaluate your work, based on the Scoring Rubric.

Teachers Evaluation of the Project

Project Manager: On a Clear Day Getting Started Read the project. As you work on the project, you will need a calculator, materials on which you can record your calculations, and materials to make accurate and attractive graphs. Keep all of your work for the project in a folder. Checklist Suggestions Activity 1: developing a formula Activity 2: approximating the formula Activity 3: researching planet radii Activity 4: using the formula Activity 5: graphing formulas Visual Display Scoring Rubric 3 Calculations are correct. Graphs are neat, accurate, and explanations are thorough and well thought out. Scales are appropriate for the graphs and clearly show the differences between formulas. 2 Calculations are correct, with some minor errors. Graphs contain minor errors. Some labels are incorrect. Explanations show good reasoning but some sentences are unclear. 1 Equations are incorrect. Graphs are inaccurate. Scales are inappropriate. Explanations are incomplete or incorrect. 0 Major elements of the project are incomplete or missing. Your Evaluation of Project Evaluate your work, based on the Scoring Rubric.

Teachers Evaluation of Project