Name: Lawrence D.

Tims

QUADRATICS UNIT PORTFOLIO MODEL

Qualities of a Mathematician
Throughout your story, please talk about the Qualities youve grown in (refer back
to your journal prompts):
Hypothesizing/Experimenting
Explaining/Justifying
Collaborating
Questioning
Growth Mindset
Finding Patterns
Title / Image

Narrative

Vertex Form

In class we were learning another

technique of how to quickly solve
factored
quadratic
equations/expressions. This time it was
a new technique called Vertex Form.
When it was first introduced to us on
the whiteboard I was super confused on
how to solve equations using this
method. However as soon as we got
into small groups with our table, I asked
my group mates if they could teach me
the methods they do with this concept.
After they explained it to me I finally
had my "Ah-Hah" moment it was sick! I
understood that its simple to solve
these type of problems, all you have to
do is get the problem to its simplest
form by square rooting it then you solve
for X.

Graphing Without X-Y Tables

In this assignment we were told to start

solving for X without using an X-Y Table.
When I took this paper home for
homework it took me forever to just
solve one problem because I used the
basic method of plug and chug
without simplifying. The next day when
we went over this worksheet in class I
learned that this is actually really
simple to do because I made the
mistake of not simplifying the equation
first so it took me a lot longer the night
before than it would have to answer the
questions. After I learned to simplify
before you solve the problems, the
plug and chug method worked
efficiently.

Factor Each Completely

This assignment was one of our first

from the quadratics unit. I pretty much
understood how to complete it from the
start because I found a pattern of a
method we were using to solve the
problems and it reminded me that we
did some of this in my 9th grade year.
However I struggled with problems like
#5 I didnt know when to determine if it
was non-factorable or not because I
always felt like there was going to be a
solution for every question we were
given. My method to completing these
problems is to find factors of the
product first and once Im done with
that see if they add up to the sum in the
equation, and if it does you're finished
with the problem.

Sketching Parabolas

For
the
Sketching
Parabolas
worksheet we were told to not complete
an X&Y Table and to only find the X&Y
Intercepts and vertex by looking at the
expression. It was really simple for me
to complete because I used method that
I had learned previously called Plug &
Chug. Personally the only tough part
was sketching the parabola on the
graph because I can never make it look
perfect.

Water Balloons Contest

This was probably one of the toughest

graphs Ive had to complete so far this
year. My group and I collaborated on 2/4
of the In-n-Out tables and they brought
up really good points that I didnt think
of, like how we should start them at
certain numbers instead of others on
the table so it could be accurate on the
graph. I also learned from this
worksheet that understanding/reading
the problem clearly is crucial because if
you dont, you will probably get the
problem wrong from doing something
wrong.

Multiple Representations of
Quadratics

This assignment was really similar to

the Sketching Parabolas worksheet.
We had to do the same work with the
expression and not an X&Y Table. I was
also able to help some of my group
mates who didnt understand it because
I figured out how to explain my method
of completing the problem pretty well.

Quadratics Quiz / Revisions

I did really well on my quadratics quiz I

only struggled with the free response
questions because I didnt add enough
detail about why standard and factored
form equations are important on a
graph. However I re-explained what I
needed to on the revisions part. I talked
about how standard form can give us
the Y-Intercept really quick by just
looking at it, and factored form can give
you your X-Intercept by just looking at
it.

Quadratics Group Test / Parabola In class we took a quiz that we had to

Patterns
complete with a group of 4 students.
The test required us students to find the
equation to each parabola on the graph
in total there was 16 of them that we
had to find. This was a very challenging
task though me and my group sat there
for a good 10 minutes discussing/trying
methods that would make the parabola
true. Finally after finding the smallest

parabola it became very simple to find

the others. We also had an Ah-Hah
moment and found out that if you found
one equation for a parabola if you put a
negative in front of the equation, you
would find the other sides parabola on
the graph (negative side). After figuring
out this trick we really only ended up
finding out 8 parabolas equations
instead of 16.

Quadratics Test / Quadratics Test

Reflection

Test: The majority of the quadratic test

was pretty simple for me because I
know all the methods to solve the
equations, and the graphing aspect of
the test was really fun for me, I only
ended up missing one question out of
the entire test. This one question
tripped me up for a while I spent a good
5 minutes just thinking about it. The
question asked If the parabola only
touched the x-axis one time at (-5,0)
what would the equation look like?. My
final thought of the quiz was that the
parabola would be facing sideways
instead of a normal parabola that would
just face up or down.
Reflection: However after discussing
with some of my group members I
figured out that it would still be a
normal parabola, the point would just
be the vertex on the parabola. So in
order to solve the problem you would
have to complete vertex form and the
final equation would be: f(x)= (X+5) 2
+0.