Lesson 4: Applications

How can you use applications to evaluate real world expressions.
How can you evaluate a real world application expression by using the substitution method

A.SSE.1a
A. Interpret the structure of expressions
1. HSA-SSE.A.1
Interpret expressions that represent a quantity in terms of its context.
a. Interpret parts of an expression, such as terms, factors, and coefficients

Lesson Description This lesson focuses on the art of mathematical modeling. Students will learn to take a paragraph of information and distill it into a workable algebraic expression or equation. The lesson covers: The Problem-Solving Process: Identifying the "unknown," assigning a variable, and highlighting constraints. Geometry Applications: Writing expressions for perimeter and area using given dimensions (e.g., "The length is 3 more than twice the width").Uniform Motion & Money: Setting up expressions for distance (d = rt) and total value (e.g., the total cost of n items at a specific price).Interpreting Results: Ensuring the numerical answer makes sense within the context of the original story.
Purpose: The purpose of this section is to develop critical thinking and synthesis. It moves students from "doing math" to "using math." By the end of this section, students should: Lose their "fear" of word problems by using a structured approach. Recognize that variables represent physical quantities (time, money, distance).Understand that the mathematical "story" they write must accurately mirror the real-world situation they are trying to describe.
DOK Level: 2 & 3Level 2 (Skills & Concepts): Students will translate multi-sentence scenarios into single algebraic expressions and solve for specific values. Level 3 (Strategic Thinking): Students will be required to explain why a certain expression models a scenario, identify errors in a given model, and adjust their mathematical "story" if the conditions of the problem change (e.g., "How does the expression change if the price increases by 10%?").

Class and online work

"you try" on page 38 and practice problems