Mathematical Modeling: Lemonade from Lemons
Keyword(s):
Class I
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What teacher has not had the discouraging experience of grading a test and discovering the scores to be depressingly lower than expected? What teacher has not been concerned about the effect of low test scores on students' attitudes and motivation? When this situation happened in my second-year algebra class, I launched an impromptu lesson that captured students' interest and offered them a new opportunity for success. The lesson also gave the class insight into elementary mathematical modeling, review and practice of first-year algebra topics, and a forum for lively discussion about the fairness of scaling, or curving test scores.