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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

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WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY26,2014
MATH=LOVE
FabulousFunctionMachines

ThisisalessonItaughtwaybackinearlyJanuary.I'veputowringitbecauseIwanttomakesure
Idoitjusce.Doyoueverhavealessonthatyouarejustinsanelyproudof?Thisisthatlessonfor
me.(Feelfreetolinktoyourlessonortellusaboutitinthecomments!Sharingiscaring!)

[Warning:ThisisprobablythelongestpostI'veeverwrien.It'salsogotaridiculousamountof
photosandvideos.Ihopeyouwilltakethemetoreadthroughitandoeryourfeedbackinthe
comments,though.Ifyouwerecomingtomyclasstoobservemeteach,thisisthelessonIwould
wantyoutosee.IknowtherearetonsofthingsIcoulddobeerthatyoucanseethatIcan't.I'm
alsoveryinterestedinhearingyourideasonhowIcancapturethespiritofthisacvityanduseitto
engagestudentsthroughouttheyear.]

LetmesetthestagesoyoucanseewherethisfallsinmyAlgebra1curriculum.Atthispointinthe ABOUTME
year,myAlgebra1kiddoshavereviewedtheprealgebrabasicsoftherealnumbersystem,integer SarahCarter
operaons,andtheorderofoperaons.Welearnedexponentrulesandnamedpolynomials.We're Follow 941

experts(hopefully)atdistribungandundistribung(factoring)expressions.Equaonshavebeen
Viewmycompleteprole
wrienandsolved.Inequalieshavebeensolvedandgraphed(inonevariable.)Studentshave
learnedthedenionsofrelaonsandfuncons.We'vealsodiscusseddomainandrangeand
independentanddependentvariables.Wecangraphpointsonthecoordinateplane.It'snowme MOREABOUTME
todelveintofunconnotaon,expandontheideaofafunconmachine,andgraphfunconsby
Iamahighschoolmathteacherinthe
makinganinput/outputtable.Wehaven'tdiscussedslopeorlookedatthedierencebetween
nytownofDrumright,OK.Ifyoucan't
linearandnonlinearfuncons.Thosewillcomeinthenextunit. alreadytellfromthetleofmyblog,I
LOVEteachingmath.Ialsolovefoldables,
Whenwediscusshowtodierenatebetweenarelaonthatisafunconandarelaonthatisnot interacvenotebooks,andorigami.My
afuncon,Iintroducedtheconceptofafunconmachine.Humanslikefunconalmachines.We favoritenumberispi.Myworldrevolves
liketobeabletopredictwhat'sgoingtohappen.Whenweputbreadinourtoasters,weexpect aroundJesus,myamazingance,my
toast.Ifweputatoasterstrudelinourtoaster,weexpectedawarm,toastedtoasterstrudel.Ifwe family,mychurchfamily,andmy
putabagelinourtoaster,weexpectatoastedbagel.Becauseweknowthefunconofatoaster(to students.
toastthings),wecanpredicttheoutputbasedontheinput.
THEBESTPENCILSHARPENEREVER
Whatifthiswasn'tthecase?WhatifIputinapieceofbread,expecngtoast,andatoastedpoptart
comesout?WhatifIsomemesgettoastandsomemesgetapoptart?Lifewouldcertainlybe
excing,butnobodyintheirrightmindwouldbuythattoasterforanythingmorethannovelty
DISCLAIMER
purposes.IfI'meangbreakfastandIlikepoptarts,ImightnotbetoobrokenheartedifIputin
SarahCarterisaparticipantinthe
breadandgotoutapoptart.But,whatifI'mwanngtomakeaBLTontoastedbread?Idenitely
AmazonServicesLLCAssociates
don'twanttoeatmybacon,leuce,andtomatosandwichedbetweentwostrawberrypoptartswith
Program,anaffiliateadvertising
lotsoficing.Yuck!(And,fortherecord,myBLTwouldbemadewiththese.I'veneveractuallyeaten
programdesignedtoprovideameans
actualbacon.) forsitestoearnadvertisingfeesby
advertisingandlinkingto
Aerintroducingtheconceptofatoasterasafunconmachine,Iranacrossanamazingcomment Amazon.com.Postsmayoccasionally
onSarahRubin'sEverybodyisaGeniusblog.ThecommentwasfromMs.Mac/Mrs.G.And,she containAmazonAffiliateProgram
suggestedshowingstudentsthatatoasterallowsseveralinputswiththesameoutput.But,it links.Ifyoupurchaseanitemfrom
doesn'tallowoneinputtohaveseveraloutputs.Forexample,ifIputwheatbreadinmytoaster,I Amazonafterclickingoneofthese
getouttoast.IfIputryebreadinmytoaster,Igetouttoast.IfIputpumpernickelbreadinmy links,Amazonwillpaymebackasmall
percentageofyourpurchase.There
toaster,Isllgetouttoast.(I'veneveractuallyeatenryebreadorpumpernickelbread.IguessI
arenoadditionalcostsforyou.
needtogetoutmore!)But,ifIputinabagel,thereisnowaythatIcouldevergetanythingbuta
bageloutofthetoaster.Thereiszeropossibilityofgengscrambledeggsorawae.Everyinput
hasexactlyoneoutput.Ilovethisaddion,andIthinkitwillreallyhelpmystudents.I'mdenitely

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
addingthistomyunitnextyear!

IguessImadeapreybigdealoutofmytoasteranalogybeforeChristmas.AerChristmasbreak,I
askedthefollowingquesonwithoutreallythinkingaboutthewholetoasterthing.

Me:"Guys,Ibroughtsomefunconmachinesfrommyhousetoday.Don'tyouhavefuncon
machinesatyourhouse?"
Student:"Didyoubringyourtoaster?"
Me:"No...Iguessatoasterisafunconmachine,butIbroughtadierenttypeoffunconmachine

today."

TOTALPAGEVIEWS
Now,remembertheipchutesImadethissummer?Theyaremadeoutofsalneboxes.Though,
I'mpreysureIwassupposedtomakethemoutofemptyjuicecartons.They'vebeensinginmy

houseformonths,justwaingtomaketheirdebutinthislesson.
7 8 3 1 6 9 5

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
proporons Puzzles Pythagorean Theorem
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postitnote.SinceIhavealimiteddomainandrangeonmyshowercurtain,Ipreparedcardsfor WringEquaonsYearInReviewzscores
eachorderedpairofthefunctionthatfitmyrestricteddomainandrange.

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Togivestudentsanelementofchoice,Ilaidoutallofthecardsonthedesk.Studentswere RulersAndMySanity
instructedtopickacardupoffthedeskandreturntotheirseat.Attheirseats,theyhavecalculators, SteppingOutOfMyComfortZone
dryeraseboards,markers,anderasers.Thestudentsweretoevaluatethecorrectfunctionforthe
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Studentschooseacardtoevaluate.

Ifastudentpickedupthef(3)card,theywouldreturntotheirseatsandsubstitute3inforxinthe
functionf(x)=2x3.Theyshouldgetanoutputvalueof2(3)3=63=3ifalltheirworkwasdone
correctly.Oncetheyhaveananswer,theymustgobacktothefunctionmachineandfeedthe
problemtothefunctionmachine.Thisistheirinput.TheyfeedtheinputintoFrancinebecausethey

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
wereaskedtoplugthe3intof.

Puttingthecardintothefunctionmachine.

Thisiswherethingsgetcool.Uponplacingthef(3)cardinthefunctionmachine,thefunction
machinewillflipthecardoversothatitcomesoutreading3.Tothestudents,itisMAGIC!

FunctionMachineOutput

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IwouldLOVEtosetupavideocameratocapturemystudents'facesthefirsttimetheyputacardin
thefunctionmachine.Theirexpressionsarepriceless!Ofcourse,theysoonrealizethattheanswer
iswrittenonthebackofthecard.And,allthefunctionmachinedoesisflipthecardover.Even
afterdiscoveringhowitworks,theystillseemtoloveit.Imighthaveseenoneortwokidsallday
forgofeedingtheircardsintothefunctionmachineandjustflipitovertochecktheiranswerinstead.

Ilikethatthisgotmystudentscheckingtheiranswer,andIhopethatitreinforcedtheideaofinputs
andoutputs.Ifyou'veneverseenaflipchuteinaction,Imadeashortvideo.I'veneverreallydone
anythinglikethisbeforesoI'mnotsureit'sthatgreat,butIhopeitwillgiveyouabetterideaofthe
process.Don'tworry.It'snotthatlongofavideo!(Ifyou'rereadingthisviaaRSSreader,youmay
needtoclickthroughtoviewthevideofile.)

Aftercheckingtheiranswer,studentsnowhadtographtheirinputandoutputasanorderedpairon
thecoordinateplane.Mygiantcoordinateplanewasputinthefloorforthisactivity.

GiantCoordinatePlane

Toplotthepoints,Icreatedpointsoutofsomegiantfoamstarsthatmysisterhadgivenme.She
hadusedpartofthemforanartproject.

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Tofurtheremphasizefunctionnotation,Ilabeledthestarswithgenericorderedpairs.(1,f(1))or(5,
g(5)).

Iwashopingthatstudentswouldmakeaconnectionbetweenthefactthatf(0)meanstheoutputoff
whentheinputis0.IguessIdidn'tdothebestjobofexplainingthisonDay1becausemystudents
didreallywelluntilwegottothegraphingpart.

Insteadofnicelinearfunctions,ourattemptsusuallyendeduplookingalittlesomethinglikethis.
OrderedPairStarsforGiantCoordinatePlane

GraphingMishap

Aftergraphingeachpoint,studentspickedupanewcardandrepeatedtheprocess.Theyplacedthe
cardsthathadbeengraphedontopofthefunctionmachinestoavoidfurtherconfusion.Onceallthe
orderedpairshadbeenfoundandgraphed,wehadaclassdiscussion.

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Studentsdiscardcardsafterevaluatingandgraphing.

Whatstarslookliketheyareinthewrongplacetoyou?Astudentwouldpickastarthatthey
believedwasincorrect.And,asaclass,wewouldevaluatethefunctionforthatvalueanddetermine
thecorrectplaceforittogo.Sometimesthestarhadbeenplacedcorrectly.Mostofthetime,
however,studentsmadetheexactsamemistake.(3,f(3))wouldbeplacedon(3,3).(2,g(2))
wouldbeplacedat(2,2).Studentswereseeingtheinputofthefunctionandwereconfusingthat
withtheoutput.

Here'sanexampleofsomemisplacedstars.

MisplacedStars

Eventually,aftersomehardwork,weconcludedthatallthestarswerenowintheirrightplaces.

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

CorrectedGraph

Studentswereshockedtodiscoverthatthepointsformedtwolines!Willthisalwayshappen?
Studentswereconvincedthatsometimestheywouldmakelines.OthertimestheywouldmakeX's.
Aftergraphingonepairoffunctions,timewasup.

Ifeltlikewehadmadesomeprogress,butIknewwehadsomuchmoretogo.

EnterDay2.WestartedoffclassbywatchingtheMeatAMorphosis:AnIntroductiontoFunctions
videofromyoutube.

Meat-A-Morphosis: An Introduction to ...

Ifyouhaven'tseenthisvideobefore,takesevenandahalfminutesandjustdoit!Itoldmystudents
thatweweregoingtowatchamovie,andtheywereinstantlyexcited.Ishowlotsofmathsongsand
shortyoutubeclips,butItellmystudentsthatIdon'tbelieveinmovies.Theythinkthatweshould
bewatchingfeaturefilmsbeforeeverysingleholiday.Ummm....no.Ihavewaytoomanyexciting
mathematicalthingstosharewiththem.Idon'thavetimeforustowatchFindingNemo.

Theysoonrealizethatwearewatchinganothermathvideo,sotheirexcitementfades.Whenthe
musicstarts,thecomplaintsstartupagain."Howoldisthismovieyou'remakinguswatch?!?""I
don'tknow.Justwatchandsee."Thegirlsoohandaahoverhowcutethelittlechickensare.The
classcollectivelygaspswhenthe(spoileralert)chickensarechoppeduptomakechickennuggets.
"Whyareyoushowingusthis?""Wait!You'reavegetarian.Whyareyoushowingusavideo
aboutmeat?""Guys!Ithinkshe'stryingtoturnusintovegetarians!"No,I'mtryingtoturnyou
intomathematicians.Attheendofthevideo,oneparticularlyopinionatedstudentsaid,"Someof
thethingsIseeinherescareme."

Atthispoint,I'mstillfrustratedovermystudents'strugglewithfunctionnotationfromtheprevious
day.HowdoIfixthis?Iknow!We'lldoanexampleproblem,andI'llforcethemtousefunction
notationanobnoxiousnumberoftimes!

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

GraphingFunconsOnTheCoordinatePlaneINBPage

Igavetheclassafuncontographinfunconnotaon.And,Ialsogavethemtheirinputs,the
integersfrom5to5.Studentshadtowritetheoutputinfunconnotaon,theoutputasanumber,
theorderedpairinfunconnotaon,andtheorderedpairusingonlynumbers.Wedidthersttwo
linesofthetable.Then,Igavestudentsseveralminutestowork.Wewouldchecktheirwork,and
theywouldconnueon.Itwasmeconsuming,butIthinkitwasaposivelearningexperience.

Itwasawesometoseestudentsstarttomakeconnecons.Somerealizedtheycouldveryeasilyll
inthefunconnotaoncolumns.Othersnocedthatthenumericaloutputincreasedbytwoevery
me.Iwalkedaroundtheroom,poinngatstudentwork,congratulangthemonndingpaerns.
Wegraphedtheorderedpairs,andtheyformedaline!

Withabouteentotwentyminutesinclass,weonceagaintriedgraphingfunconsusingthe
funconmachines,cards,stars,andshowercurtaincoordinateplane.Whenstudentslooked
confused,Iremindedthemofthefunconnotaonwehadjustusedearlierthatdayinour
notebook.Thatseemedtohelpsome.But,Isllhadsomeveryfrustratedkiddoswhocouldnot
gureouthowtopickoutwhichstartouseorwheretoplaceitonthecoordinateplane.

Iwasstarngtowriteothiswholeexerciseasafailure.MaybeIamjustterribleatteaching
funconnotaon.Maybemykidsarejustdoomedtoneverunderstandthis.Iwasn'tabouttogive
up,though.Mystudentsweregoingtounderstandfunconnotaononewayoranother!

Thenextday,Idecidedweweregoingtospendourenre50minuteperiodgraphingfuncons.If
weconnuallygraphed,checkedourwork,discusseddiscrepancies,andtriedagain,theywere
boundtohavetogetit!Ihadstudentsopentheirnotebookstoourpagesonfunconmachinesand
funconnotaontouseasareference.

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FunconNotaonINBPages

Mystudentswererockingtheprocessofevaluangthefuncons.Theywerecheckingtheiranswers
usingthefunconmachines.Lifewasgood.Well,lifewasgoodunltheygottothestars.Idecided
tojustposionmyselfbythestarsandhelpstudentswiththegraphingprocess.Theyweregoingto
getthis!

Aerhelpingstudentaerstudentndtheircorrectstar,Ihadanepiphany.Theyalreadyhavethe
cardintheirhandthathastheoutputwrieninfunconnotaonononesideandtheoutput
wrieninnumericalnotaonontheotherside.Whydon'tIhavethemusethiscardtographtheir
orderedpairs?!

Myconversaonwithstudentswentsomethinglikethis.

Student:"Ican'tgureoutwhichstarIneed!"
Me:"Well,whatwasyourinput?"
Student:"Myinputwas2,andmyoutputwas1.But,Idon'tseeastarlabeled(2,1)."
Me:"Doyourememberhowwehadtwodierentwaysofwringtheoutputinournotes?"
Student:"Yes."
Me:"Well,ifyourcardsaysf(2),youneedtondastarthatalsohasf(2)intheorderedpair."

FindingtheCorrectStar

Problemsolved.Findthestarthatmatchesthecard.

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

Thiswasgreatexceptforthefactthattheysllwantedtoputthe(2,f(2))staron(2,2).Every.
Single.Time.

Itwasmeforasecondepiphany.

Me:"So,youroutputwasf(2)?"
Student:"Yes."
Me:"And,whatwasthenumericaloutputthatyougotwhenyouplugged2intothefuncon?"
Student:"WhenIpluggedin2,Igot1."
Me:"So,f(2)is1?"
Student:"Yes,Ijustsaidthat."
ThissiteusescookiesfromGoogletodeliveritsservices,topersonaliseadsandtoanalysetraffic.Information
Me:"So,you'resayingthatf(2)isequalto1?"
aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.
Student:"Yes.f(2)equals1."
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Me:"Iff(2)equals1,thenIcanreplacethef(2)with1.And,thatwilltellmewheretographthe
orderedpair."

StarWithOrderedPairInFunconNotaon

Atthispoint,Imadeashowofippingthecardoverseveralmes.Iwouldshowthemthat(2,f(2))
wastheexactsameas(2,1).Aerall,theyhadjusttoldmethatbothsidesofthecardmeantthe
samething.

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

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StarWithOrderedPairinNumericalNotaon

Allofasudden,mystudentsweregraphingpointslikenobody'sbusiness.Theydidn'tneedmyhelp
tondtheirstars.And,theycertainlydidn'tneedmyhelptographtheirorderedpairs.Itwassofun
towatchthemmatchthecardswiththestarsandthenlaythecardsontopofthestars.Theywould
ipthecardoverjustlikeIhadshowntheminordertographtheirorderedpair.Success!

Mystudentswereabletosuccessfullygraphhorizontallinesandquadracfunconsusingthe
funconmachinesaswell.Weendedupcallingf(x)=3theSpamequaon.Nomaerwhatour
input,3(spam)alwayscomesout.(Ifyou'reconfusedbythis,youshouldreallygobackandwatch
theMeatAMorphosisvideo.Ipromise;you'llbemuchlessconfused!)

So,whydoIlovethislessonsomuch?

It'shandson.Itgotmykidsoutoftheirseats.Itwasselfchecking.Itwasasafeenvironmentto
makemistakes.Whenstudentspointoutthattheythink(3,f(3))isinthewrongplace,nobody
knowswhographedthatpointunlessthestudentannouncesthatitwastheirstar.Eachstudent
workedattheirownpace.Itwasdiscussionprovoking.Studentswerecravingvocabularywordslike
slopeandyinterceptthatwehadyettolearn.Theywereaskingquesons,makingpredicons."I
betthisonemakesaline,too!"Aer,wegraphedaquadrac,onestudentwantedtoknowhowhe
couldtellfromtheequaonifthegraphwouldmakeastraightlineoraparabola.IalsofeltlikeI
coulddierenatethisacvityformystudents.Iff(x)wasaquadracandg(x)waslinear,Icould
pushmyadvancedstudentstowardsolvingthef(x)cards,andmystudentswhoneededmore
supportcouldbefurtherpraccinglinearfunconswiththeg(x)cards.

Basically,Iwantthistobewhatmyclassroomislikeeverysingleday.

Downloadleshere.

Youmightalsolike:

Algebra1 2012:AYearin I'mateacher! 30AwesomeFacts


Introductionto Review (RecapofDay1 YouShould
Relationsand and2) ProbablyKnow
Functions AboutMs.Hagan

Linkwithin

PostedbySarahCarterat4:30AM
Recommend this on Google

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
Labels:Acvies,algebra,Algebra1,Conversaons,foldable,Funcons,FunnyAnswers,graphicorganizer,
interacvenotebook,lessons,prealgebra,printable,Reecon,slope

39comments:

Anonymous February27,2014at9:30PM
IhavebeenlookingforahandsonacvityonFunconNotaon.Iamlookingforwardtotryingthis.
Reply

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SarahHagan March5,2014at3:43PM
aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.
Ifyoutryit,pleaseletusknowhowitgoes!
LEARNMORE GOTIT
Reply

Julie March1,2014at6:58AM
Youarerighttobeproudofthislesson.Itissimplyamazing!Thankyouforsharingallyouhavedone
inyourclassroom.Yourstudentsareluckytohaveyou.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan March5,2014at3:55PM
Thanks,Julie!

Reply

thesmallblondeone March1,2014at5:58PM
Oh,goodness,howIlovethatvideo.WhenIfoundit,Iwasstuckbetweenwanngtoshowittomy
8thgradersandbeingafraiditwastootraumazing.Ididn'twantkidsrunninghomeandtellingtheir
parentsofthehorriblevideoImadethemwatch!Icompromisedbyhypingitupwith,"I'mnotsure
youguyscanhandlethis,soIdon'treallyknowifIshouldshowittoyou"andthenthewatchingofit
wasontheirhands.;)
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan March5,2014at3:55PM
Thisispriceless!

Reply

mrspmathclass March6,2014at8:32AM
You've inspired yet again. I am going to try to rework it for inequalies, so it ips the sign when
mulplying/dividingbyanegave.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan April15,2014at7:02PM
Iadorethisidea!

Reply

ilovteaching May30,2014at10:06PM
Hi,yourstudentsareblessedtohavesuchateacher.Whatatremendousamountofworkyouputinto
it.I'mjustreadingitandittookmesomeme.:)Whenandifyouhaveme,couldyoupleaseemail
theforms?Icouldn'tgetittoworkfrommycomputeratschool.Thankyouinadvance.

Reply
http://mathequalslove.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/fabulousfunctionmachines.html 15/20
17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan June2,2014at1:18PM
Justemailedthemtoyou.Letmeknowifyoudon'treceivethem!

Reply

iksigma September23,2014at1:08AM
ThissiteusescookiesfromGoogletodeliveritsservices,topersonaliseadsandtoanalysetraffic.Information
"shesuggestedshowingstudentsthatatoasterallowsseveralinputswiththesameoutput."
aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.
Thisisabitakyorshakystatementand/oranalogy LEARNMORE GOTIT

because"toast"isatadierentlevelofabstraconthanbread

If we say that the funcon of the toaster is to create toasted or heatedup things then if we put in
thingAwegetoutheatedupthingA

Whenyougoontotherangeandcircleallthoseheatedupbreadsas"toast"itisyouthatyouarere
interpreng the funcon of the machine why dont you go on to the domain and circle all those
breadsasbread?

Thatsthepowerofabstracon5is5is5

wedonthaveablue5orared5etc

Thephysicalobjectcanbeinterpreteddierentlyaccordingtothemicroscopeweput.

andthat'sthedangerofparcularizingmathwithanalogies

Reply

Replies

LouiseGreen July24,2015at8:49AM
Thepointoftheanalogyistosaythatsomethinghappenstothebreadtomakethetoast.
Whilstthetoastissllbreadbythehumandenionithas"transformed"intosomething
else... or something with a dierent name [toast] and therefore the range is the toasted
versionofthedomain.
Whenyouputanumberthroughafunconmachineyougetanothernumberout,it'snot
thesamenumberbutit'ssllanumber...a"heatedup"number.


Asfortheuseofblue5orred5...you'rejustgengridiculouslypicky.IfIputablue5into
afunconthentheoutputwillbeblueifIchooseittobe.ItcouldbearainbowgradientifI
soplease.

Reply

KaitlinTaylor October8,2014at1:14PM
Startedtoseeafewlightbulbsgoowiththisacvitytoday,sothankyou!Wantedtoaddforbigger
classes(mineareall2431)...Insteadofdoingtheacvitywiththewholeclass,itworkedbeerforme
tosplittheclassintotwogroups.Igaveonegroupbookpracceandworkedonthisacvitywiththe
othergroup.Ispentabout2025witheachgroup.Whiletherewerebehavior/nonengagementissues
witheachmethod(wholeclassv.groups),therewerefarlesswithgroups!
Reply

HollyLester February8,2015at9:22PM
AreyoufamiliarwithHeywoodBanks?Heisacomedicsinger/songwriter.Hissignaturesongis"Toast".
Iplayitformystudentsaertheinialintroducontofunconsandtheuseofthetoasteranalogy.
Reply

Replies

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

SarahHagan February19,2015at4:19PM
I'm not familiar with that arst or song. But, I imagine that this helps the concept really
sckinstudents'brains.Greatidea!

Reply

KayleeDeHoek March3,2015at11:33PM
Hi, I am currently a teacher educaon student, and not an actual teacher. However, I have an
assignmenttoteachan8thgradelessonandIgottochoosewhattoteachandhowtoteachit,butI
ThissiteusescookiesfromGoogletodeliveritsservices,topersonaliseadsandtoanalysetraffic.Information
wasstruggling.Ithencameacrossthispostandithashelpedmesomuch!Iamposngthelinktoit
aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.
andsingyouonmylessonplan.Iamexcitedtotrytoimplementthiswhenteachingmypeersand
gengtheirfeedbackonit.Itissuchagreatideaandyourstudentsareveryluckytohaveateacher
LEARNMORE GOTIT
sodevoted!Thankyoufortheinspiraon!
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan March6,2015at9:22AM
That'sawesomethatyou'realreadylookingonlineforresourceswhilesllincollege!Hope
thelessongoeswellforyou!Teachingmathreallyisthebestjobever.:)

Reply

Anonymous April23,2015at7:52PM
Iama7thgraderinan8thgrademathclassatmyschool.Iwasgonetoday,somyteachergaveme
the funcon machines and funcon notaon worksheet in class. This sight helped my learn the
conceptclearly.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan April23,2015at8:11PM
GladIcouldhelp:)

Reply

marge September3,2015at6:58PM
Thankyousomuchforsharingyourteachingideas:)Godblessyou!
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan September7,2015at10:04AM
You'reverywelcome!

Reply

Anonymous September24,2015at12:45PM
canyoupleasesolveformef(x)=2x5iff(x1)?
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan September25,2015at1:06PM
f(x)=2(x)5.Replace(x)with(x1).2(x1)5

Reply

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

ssides October29,2015at11:46AM
Thisisafunidea!Howdidyoumakeyourgiantcoordinateplane?
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan October31,2015at7:25PM
Dollarstoreshowercurtain+electricaltape+ducttape+alotofmeandcoordinaon:)

Reply

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aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.
Unknown November20,2015at9:09PM
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I want to thank you for posng your lesson. I am going to ulize it most of it when we get back to
schoolaerThanksgivingweek.Ilookforwardtoseeinghowmystudentsrespond.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan November23,2015at8:41AM
You'reverywelcome!Pleaseletmeknowhowitgoes!

Reply

Unknown December30,2015at4:17PM
Howdidyoumakeyourfunconmachine?
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan January5,2016at8:51AM
IfoundaPDFtemplateonline.Anothercommentersaidtheyfoundayoutubevideoonline
thatshowedhowtomakeone.

Reply

Unknown December31,2015at8:39AM
Ifoundavideoonlinecalled,"Howtomakeaipchute,andjustfollowedthedirecons.Youwillneed
acoupleofmilk/juicecartons,strongtapeandcardstock.OnceImadetherstone,thesecondone
waseasytocreate.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan January5,2016at8:46AM
Thanksforthep!

Reply

KimberlyHarris January17,2016at10:25PM
Hello,
I was wondering when you make the funcons and the cards do you use the same input for each
funconandtheyalljusthavedierentoutputs.IguessIamconfusedonwhatisineachbaggie.
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan January19,2016at4:11PM
I use the inputs that match the domain and range of my graph. Each baggie is dierent
becausetheoutputsdependonthespecicfuncon.

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17/01/2017 Math=Love:FabulousFunctionMachines

Reply

Anonymous January21,2016at10:42AM
Hithere,
Wheredidyoundyourgiantcoordinateplane?
Reply

Replies

SarahHagan January21,2016at12:10PM
ThissiteusescookiesfromGoogletodeliveritsservices,topersonaliseadsandtoanalysetraffic.Information
Imadeitoutofashowercurtainandducttape.Timeconsuming,butworthit!
aboutyouruseofthissiteissharedwithGoogle.Byusingthissite,youagreetoitsuseofcookies.

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Anonymous January22,2016at8:15AM
Okay,perfect!Thankyousomuch.

Reply

CarrieMaccoux October16,2016at12:02PM
Do you have any recommendaons for when given the output nd the input. Example: Given
f(x)=2x+3ndf(x)=13.
Reply

Unknown November21,2016at1:22PM
OK,soIknowthisissuperold,butaquicksuggesononhowtogetthemtounderstandinput/output
wasavendingmachine.Youcanhavemulplebuonsthatgiveyouthesamesoda,aslongasthey're
alllabeledcorrectlyitmakessenseandispredictable.ButifyouhaveabuonthatgivesyouSprite
half the me and Ginger Ale the other half, you'll be unhappy (thus, not a funcon!). I made a
mappingdiagramusingthisexampleanditreallyhelpedkids.:)
Reply

Replies

SarahCarter November25,2016at4:29PM
I'veusedthisanalogybefore,too.Superhelpful!

Reply

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