Kaeleigh Tucker

Day 1: Exploring Limits (MCV4U)

Math Learning Goals Materials

 Students will explore the concept of a limit through investigation  Worksheets

and explain their reasoning behind their conclusions  Graph paper

 Explore the ratio of successive terms of sequences and series  Plain paper

 Explore how a function approaches an asymptote, horizontal and  Graphing

vertical technology if
available
45 min
Assessment
Opportunities
Minds On Group  Investigation
... Group of three will get one piece of blank paper.
The group will divide their paper into four equal pieces.
Each person in the group will take one piece of the 4 equal pieces.

ASK: What fraction of paper are you holding?

Now divide your piece into another four equal pieces.

Each person in the group will take one piece of the 4 equal pieces. Observe and gage
their understanding
ASK: What fraction of paper are you holding now? by their responses
ASK: Is your piece of paper getting smaller or bigger? to the questions
asked.
Now divide that piece into another four equal pieces.
Each person in the group will take one piece of the 4 equal pieces.

ASK: If we continue to do this time and time again, how much of the
paper will each person have? Explain.

ASK: If we were to graphically represent what we just did, how could we

explain what a limit is?
Observe
Whole Class – Discussion understanding of
Introduce terminology: key terms.
- Limit
- Infinite sequence
- Infinite series

Action! Groups of 3  Investigation

Person one: Work on investigating the concept of a limit through using Assess students
the sequence of ratios of successive terms and the Fibonacci sequence. reasoning and
Person two: Investigate concept of a limit using series representing skills.
Person three: Investigate concept of a limit using behaviour of a function
near an asymptote

Consolidate Group  Presentations and Discussion

Debrief Anecdotal notes for
Groups will present their findings from their example.
presentations
Discuss series of graphs showing different representations – data,
discrete data points, smooth functions, continuous functions (summarize Assess students
understanding
the concept of a limit for each case).
1. Taking it to the Limit
In your group, investigate the two examples assigned using the outline below. You may
wish to use graphing software to help you with your analysis. Be prepared to present the
findings of your group with rationale.

Analysis
To analyse the existence of a limit of these series, create a sequence off partial sums
S1, S2, S3,…,S10, where S1 represents the sum of the first term
S2 represents the sum of the first two terms
S3 represents the sum of the first three terms
.
.
.
S10 represents the sum of the first ten terms

Term Partial Sum for Partial Sum for

Value Series One Series Two
1
2

Select a tool to create a data plot, where n (the sum number) is the independent variable
and Sn is the dependent variable. Sketch the data plot on the grid provided for one of the
sequences for which a limit exists.

Summary

1. State your series _______________________________________

2. State the sequence of sums ________________________________________

3. The behaviour of our sequence is

4. We reached this conclusion because

2. Investigating Ratios in the Fibonacci Sequence
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Fibonacci.html

The Fibonacci sequence is an example of a recursive sequence. Each number of the

sequence is the sum of the two numbers preceding it. Formally, this can be written:
F 1  1
F  2  1
F  n   F  n  1  F  n  2 
1. Complete the following table computing the ratios of consecutive terms correct to
5 decimal places.
Ratio of
Fibonacci
Consecutive Terms
Number F (n)
F (n)
F ( n  1)

1 t1  1 
1
2 t2  2 
1

3 t3 

13

2. Create a new sequence from the ratios obtained in Question 2, i.e., t1 = 1, t2 = 2,

t3 = 1.5 …
1, 2, 1.5, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____
3. Using graphing technology, create a plot of the sequence in Question 2, where the
term number is the independent variable and the value of the ratio is the dependent
variable. Sketch the graph on the grid provided.
4. Does the sequence of ratios of Fibonacci numbers have a limit? Justify your answer.
 3. Taking it to the Limit

In your group, investigate the two examples assigned using the outline below. You can
use graphing software to help you with your analysis. Be prepared to present your group
findings with rationale.

Function Analysis
Using the tool of your choice, create a graph for the given domain. Sketch the graph on
the grid provided for each of the functions assigned.

Summary
1. State your function. 1. State your function.

2. Describe the behaviour of the function 2. Describe the behaviour of the function
over the given domain. over the given domain.

3. State the limit if one exists. Explain. 3. State the limit if one exists. Explain.
Sample Exploration Questions for 1 (Teacher)
Each group of students receives one series from Group A and one series from
Group B.

Group A

1 1 1 1
1      Examine 10 sums
4 9 16 n2

1 1 1 1 Examine 10 sums
1     
8 27 64 n3

1 n2 Examine 10 sums
 1 1.125  1 n 
2 2

Group B

1 1 1 1
1      Examine 10 sums
2 3 4 n

3  9  9  12   (1)n1(3n)  Examine 10 sums

2  4  6  8  16   2n  Examine 10 sums
 Sample Exploration Questions for 2 (Teacher)

Each group of students receive one series from Group A and one series from
Group B.

Group A

1
f  x  4 Examine end behaviour as x becomes large.
x

f  x  
1 Examine behaviour as x  2 (i.e., x gets close to 2) beginning
( x  2) with values x = 1.5 and incrementing by 0.1

3( x  3)
f ( x)  5 Examine end behaviour as x becomes large.
x

Group B

f  x  x  3 Examine end behaviour as x becomes large.

f ( x)  2x2  x  4 Examine end behaviour as x becomes large.

3( x  3) Examine behaviour as x  0 (i.e., x gets close to 0) for values of

f  x  5
x x beginning with x = –1 and incrementing by 0.1