As the Ball Rolls: A Quadratic Investigation Using Multiple Representations

Using activities to create and collect data is not a new idea. Teachers have been incorporating real-world data into their classes since at least the advent of the graphing calculator. Plenty of data collection activities and data sets exist, and the graphing calculator has made modeling data much easier. Here, Mittag and Taylor discuss how an activity using a tennis ball, tempera paint and grid paper to model a quadratic has evolved into what people now use with students and how they avoid getting paint all over the classroom and students. In this activity, students explore characteristics of quadratics through the use of formulas and graphing calculators. This activity incorporates those two approaches but goes one step further: it allows students to create their own parabola. The activity demonstrates the rule of three for multiple representations in that it uses tables, graphs, and algebra.