This question examines the algebraic equations for three different spheres. The intersections of each pair of spheres are then studied, both using the equations and thinking about the geometry of the spheres. For two spheres where one is not contained inside of the other there are three possibilities for how they intersect.
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This task is a somewhat more complicated version of "Accurately weighing pennies I'' as a third equation is needed in order to solve part (a) explicitly. Instead, students have to combine the algebraic techniques with some additional problem-solving (numerical reasoning, informed guess-and-check, etc.)
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This task is the last in a series of three tasks that use inequalities in the same context at increasing complexity in 6th grade, 7th grade and in HS algebra. Students write and solve inequalities, and represent the solutions graphically. The progression of the content standards is 6.EE.8 to 7.EE.4 to A-REI.12.
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This task examines the ways in which the plane can be covered by regular polygons in a very strict arrangement called a regular tessellation. These tessellations are studied here using algebra, which enters the picture via the formula for the measure of the interior angles of a regular polygon (which should therefore be introduced or reviewed before beginning the task). The goal of the task is to use algebra in order to understand which tessellations of the plane with regular polygons are possible.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This tasks is an example of a mathematical modeling problem (SMP 4) and it also illustrates SMP 1 (Making sense of a problem). Students are only told that there are two ingredients in the pasta and they have a picture of the box. It might even be better to just show the picture of the box, or to bring in the box and ask the students to pose the question themselves.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
The purpose of this task is to emphasize the adjective "geometric" in the "geometric" series, namely, that the algebraic notion of a common ratio between terms corresponds to the geometric notion of a repeated similarity transformation.
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This task provides an exploration of a quadratic equation by descriptive, numerical, graphical, and algebraic techniques. Based on its real-world applicability, teachers could use the task as a way to introduce and motivate algebraic techniques like completing the square, en route to a derivation of the quadratic formula.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
The purpose of this task is to give students practice in reading, analyzing, and constructing algebraic expressions, attending to the relationship between the form of an expression and the context from which it arises. The context here is intentionally thin; the point is not to provide a practical application to kitchen floors, but to give a framework that imbues the expressions with an external meaning.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
The primary purpose of this task is to illustrate certain aspects of the mathematics described in the A.SSE.1. The task has students look for structure in algebraic expressions related to a context, and asks them to relate that structure to the context. In particular, it is worth emphasizing that the task requires no algebraic manipulation from the students.
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This task looks at zeroes and factorization of a general polynomial. It is related to a very deep theorem in mathematics, the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, which says that a polynomial of degree d always has exactly d roots, provided complex numbers are allowed as roots and provided roots are counted with the proper "multiplicity.''
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This task has some aspects of a mathematical modeling problem (SMP 4) and it also illustrates SMP 1 (Making sense of a problem). Students are given all the relevant information on the nutritional labels, but they have to figure out how to use this information. They have to come up with the idea that they can set up two equations in two unknowns to solve the problem.
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This task requires students to answer questions about the structure of an expression.
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The purpose of this task is to help students see manipulation of expressions as an activity undertaken for a purpose.
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This task is not about computing the final price of the shirt but about using the structure in the computation to make a general argument.
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This real world task requires students to answer questions about equations for calculating compound interest.
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This task is for instructional purposes only and builds on ``Building an explicit quadratic function.''
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This task asks students to perform computations involving complex numbers using the given information.
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In this task students have to interpret expressions involving two variables in the context of a real world situation. All given expressions can be interpreted as quantities that one might study when looking at two animal populations.
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This task contrasts the usefulness of four equivalent expressions. Students first have to confirm that the given expressions for the radioactive substance are equivalent. Then they have to explain the significance of each expression in the context of the situation.
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Students are asked to consider the expression that arises in physics as the combined resistance of two resistors in parallel. However, the context is not explicitly considered here. The task is good general preparation for problems more specifically aligned to either A-SSE.1 or A-SSE.2.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
