few_shots: 
Example 1:
Problem/activity:
You’re mixing ingredients for cookies. The recipe says to combine 6 tablespoons, or ¾ stick, of butter with 1 cup of sugar. You accidentally mix in a whole stick of butter (8 tablespoons) with the cup of sugar. How can you fix this?


Concept/skill: 
Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.

Answer: 
Yes. This problem solves a real-world problem involving mixing ingredients for cookies. A student doing this problem would need to reason about equivalent ratios of butter amounts to sugar amounts.

Example 2:
Problem/activity:
For each pair of numbers, determine if the values are equivalent. Explain your reasoning for each one.
a.
$$-0.25$$
and
$$\frac{1}{-4}$$
b.
$$-\left ( \frac{1}{4} \right )$$
and
$$\frac{-1}{-4}$$
c.
$$\frac{-1}{4}$$
and
$$-\frac{1}{4}$$


Concept/skill: 
Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction or whole number by a fraction.

Answer: 
No. The expressions shown in this problem do not involve multiplying fractions with other fractions, nor whole numbers with fractions.

Example 3:
Problem/activity:
Problem 1
The table below contains single equations in a single variable, single equations in two variables, and pairs of simultaneous equations in two variables. Check the appropriate box to show whether there is no solution, exactly 1 solution, or if there is an infinite number of solutions.
|                                                          | **           No solution          ** | **           Exactly 1 solution          ** | **           Infinite number of solutions          ** |
|----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|                       $${9=4x+7}$$                       |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                       $${y=3y+5}$$                       |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                    $${y={x\over2}}$$                     |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                     $${3x+6y-9=0}$$                      |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|    $${x=y}$$                        $${1.25x=1.25y}$$    |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
| $${9.9=6x+8y}$$                        $${9x=2.5y-8.8}$$ |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
| $${11x-2y=1.5}$$                        $${11x-2y=2.5}$$ |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
Problem 2
Kim has a small container and a large container as shown.
[IMG]
It takes 16 of the small containers to fill the large container. Three small containers leave 1.95 gallons of space in the big container.
What is the size of each of the two containers?


Concept/skill: 
Analyze and solve pairs of simultaneous linear equations.

Answer: 
Yes. The last three rows of the table in the first problem involves solving pairs of simultaneous linear equations. The second word problem can also be represented as two simultaneous linear equations.

Now, does the problem or activity shown below enable students to learn the full intent of the following concept or skill?

shot_info: fl_problem_000972_pos_0

6

fl_problem_001097_neg_0

7

fl_problem_001392_pos_0

8
standard_description: Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that population. Understand that random sampling tends to produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
problem_activity: Activity
The mathematical purpose of this activity is to introduce students to curves representing normal distributions. Students compare normal curves with different means and standard deviations to determine how those statistics affect the curve. In particular, ensure students understand that normal curves are entirely defined by the mean and standard deviation, that the mean defines the center of the distribution, and the standard deviation affects the spread of the distribution.
Student Facing
These curves represent
normal distributions
with different means and standard deviations. What do you notice?
mean = 10. standard deviation = 1
[IMG]
mean = 10. standard deviation = 2
[IMG]
mean = 8. standard deviation = 2
[IMG]
mean = 12. standard deviation = 1
[IMG]
mean = 10. standard deviation = 0.8
[IMG]
Student Response
Teachers with a valid work email address can
click here to register or sign in
for free access to Student Response.
Student Facing
Are you ready for more?
The equation for the curve for a normal distribution is
\(f(x) = \frac{1}{\sigma \sqrt{2\pi}} \boldcdot e^{\frac{-(x-\mu)^2}{2\sigma^2}}\)
where
\(\sigma\)
is the standard deviation,
\(\mu\)
is the mean, and
\(e\)
is a particular number close to 2.718.
Notice the part of the function that is
\((x - \mu)\)
. Using your understanding of transformations of functions, how does changing
\(\mu\)
affect the graph of the function?
Student Response
Teachers with a valid work email address can
click here to register or sign in
for free access to Extension Student Response.
Activity Synthesis
The important things for students to notice are:
The curves are entirely defined by the mean and standard deviation.
The curve is symmetric around the mean.
The standard deviation affects the width and height of the curve. A larger standard deviation is wider and shorter. A smaller standard deviation is thinner and taller.
Here are some questions for discussion:
“Why do you think the normal curve for a larger standard deviation is wider and shorter than one with a smaller standard deviation?” (We would expect a larger standard deviation to mean that data is more spread out, so it makes sense that is wider. Since the area must remain 1 under the curve, it has to get shorter to get wider.)
“What is the shape of the normal curve?” (Bell-shaped and symmetric)
“Where is the line of symmetry for each curve?” (
\(x = 10\)
,
\(x = 8\)
,
\(x = 12\)
, and
\(x = 10\)
, respectively)
Tell students,
“Although it is difficult to see in these graphs, the
\(x\)
-axis is a horizontal asymptote for normal curves. As you follow the curve to the right (or left), the curve gets closer and closer to the
\(x\)
-axis without ever actually reaching it.”
“Normal curves are bell-shaped and are most reliably used to model bell-shaped or approximately bell-shaped distributions.”
“The area under the normal curve (between the curve and the
\(x\)
-axis) is always 1. When the standard deviation increases, the curve spreads out to the right and left. To maintain the same area, though, the height of the peak must decrease.”


aligns: no