In this quadratics unit, I learned many new concepts and equations. Here I will go over how each concept was introduced. First, we learned about Vertex Form and Standard Form as they branched off from concepts we knew such as linear equations. We derived these concepts from kinematics which led us into this unit. After learning about these concepts, we learned about parabolas and how both equations could pinpoint the exact location of a parabola and its vertex, which is the highest or lowest point of a parabola. Next we learned about area diagrams and how those are used to convert between the two forms we had learned about thus far. We even went in depth discussing each portion of the area diagram and how that is used to go from vertex form to standard form. Next we went over minima and maxima, which represent the lowest point of the parabola and the highest on the parabola respectively. We also learned about Factored Form and how to convert between that and the other 2 equations as well as using it in an area diagram. We then learned about finding the x and y intercepts using the 3 equations. Lastly, we learned about how to derive a quadratic equation and find the "a" value in the equation y=a(x-h)^2+k.
The quadratics postcard was an assignment where we had to create a postcard describing how quadratics is used the real world. The point was to used the concepts we learned and connect them to real life. I did my postcard on finding the equation for the parabola of both the bottom portion of the Eiffel Tower and the suspension lines of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Overall, I thought I did very well on this assignment. I kept up with the due dates a created a very nice final draft, which is organized and professional. I also took time to figure out the math and find the equations I needed. To be honest, I don't think anything went badly for me during this process. What I would do differently though is create a more in-depth question and use a more complex equation to solve that.