We’ve just finished a big scimatics project about polynomials and like terms. I created this mind map at the beginning of the unit, then updated it after we’d finished the unit. My updated notes are in purple. 

This project was complicated, and the best way to explain how I did it would be to use a few curricular competencies for Math 9, and describe how I used them during this project.

For this project, I worked with Niklas to create a pretend retail golf store called ‘40 Yards Left’, selling clubs, balls, and anything you can name. 

The first competency I’ll focus on is ‘Model mathematics in contextualized experiences.’ This competency was useful for our project as we were connecting the mathematical ideas we’d learned to a real world situation- opening a business.

We had to learn what the average monthly costs of running a business was- over $13,000! We used polynomials for this- calculating the number of square feet we were leasing, how much each square foot cost, how many hours each worker worked, how much we paid them per hour, how many insurance payments we had, how much each insurance payment cost, and other miscellaneous costs into one formula! This was a really interesting way to learn about polynomials. 

The next competency I’d like to focus on is ‘Use mathematical arguments to support personal choices.’ This competency was important for us because a part of running a business is projecting how much you’ll make. We calculated how much we would make our first month, and then subtracted that by our monthly expenses. Our final profits- $10,125.67! That is a lot of money, and if we were to follow that model, we could hire more workers and expand. That is a perfect example of using mathematical arguments to support personal choices.

The next competency that I think we used really well during this project was ‘Connect mathematical concepts to each other and to other areas and personal interests.’ This applies to our project really well. My partner, Nik, really likes golf, and I know a bit about golf. It was great to do a project about a topic we had a little bit of experience with. This made it more interesting to us and inspired us to do better on it, especially since it was very simple to research. 

The last competency that I’ll focus on is ‘Visualize to explore mathematical concepts.’ This competency Great description of this project. We were allowed to create anything, and Nicholas and I decided to create a model of the store. It was a great way to visualize what it would look like, how it would work, and what we would sell. From that model, it was really easy to create polynomials based around finding both our profits and our monthly business expenses. This competency was overall one of the most important ones for us. 

Thanks for reading my blog post!