Examining Students’ Practices in Algebra and Function > Module 4
ESP_AF Module 4-Characteristics of Function Families
This module uses multiple technologies, a Desmos activity that uses tables and graphing tools and a GeoGebra activity that uses a simulation and spreadsheets, to explore the differences in rates of change in linear, quadratic, and exponential situations. Teachers will examine students using these technologies to build an understanding of different ways in which various attributes can change over time and consider the ways in which the technology supports students’ exploration and understanding of rate of change. Video clips, images of student work, and a pre-populated Desmos teacher dashboard provide a context for teachers to develop their noticing, selecting and sequencing, and questioning skills.
This module could be used alongside a chapter from Teaching Algebra materials:
Chapter 5: Rate of Change
Overview Documents
Module Elements
| 4.1 Avi and Benita’s Repair Shop Task Teachers will engage with a Desmos activity in which they compare a linear and exponential payment structure. |  Instructor Materials |
| 4.2 Noticing Student Thinking: Avi and Benita’s Repair Shop Teachers engage with anticipating student thinking and noticing two pairs of students’ mathematical thinking as they make sense of linear and exponential growth. | Class Materials Instructor Materials |
| 4.3 Selecting and Sequencing: Avi and Benita’s Repair Shop Teachers practice using a Desmos Teacher Dashboard to select and sequence student responses for a class discussion. | Instructor Materials |
| 4.4 Three Animals Race Task Teachers engage in a GeoGebra task examining and comparing three different rates of change. | Class Materials Instructor Materials |
| 4.5 Noticing Student Thinking: Three Animals Race Teachers engage with noticing two pairs of students’ thinking related to rate of change and how each pair of students use different technology representations to make sense of the different rates of change. | Class Materials Instructor Materials |
| 4.6 Assessing and Advancing Student Thinking: Three Animals Race Teachers engage in noticing three different pairs of students’ written work and practice posing purposeful assessing and advancing questions. | Class Materials Instructor Materials |