Conics Unit Day 2: Circles

In planning our Conics unit we started with the toughest task first ... completing the square. This means we can practice that skill all throughout the unit! Students seemed pleased last week when I told them they tackled the hardest part first.

We are going to work through each conic section ... circles first. Students will start by working in groups, defining a circle, and listing everything they already know about them.  We will consolidate their lists to make a class list.

Then we will make a connection between the general form of the equation and the standard form. Using the standard form we will identify key attributes (center and radius) and graph circles.

Next we will sort conic cards. Students will sort cards in each class ... first in groups, then in pairs, then individually. On the first day the sort was rough, more of a detective activity. Students had to deduce quite a bit of information. In this sort, we will "check" their work on circles.

Because students have had geometry I want to spend some time making connections. We will explore tangents to circles using Desmos. I've already built folders for each problem on Desmos so that I'm ready to illustrate.  I plan to ask students to work with partners for a few minutes to see what they can discover.  And then we will discuss the problems. 

Last we will explore an application problem about radio stations that I found online from the Atlanta Public Schools. 

I notice that colleagues in the MTBOS are blogging daily this month ... count me in a few days late! #MTBOS30