Alg1.4 Functions

In this unit, students expand their understanding of functions, building on what they learned in grade 8. Students develop their capacity to represent, interpret, and use functions to make sense of quantities in situations and to solve problems. They are introduced to new tools for communicating about functions: function notation, domain and range, average rates of change, and mathematical terms for describing key features of graphs. They also develop their ability to gather information about a function from its graph, by connecting features of the graph to features of the situation and other representations, and to sketch a graph that tells the story about the function. Along the way, students begin to distinguish categories of functions: linear functions, piecewise-defined functions (the absolute value function, in particular), and inverse functions. Throughout the unit, students use, interpret, and connect the different representation of functions, both in and out of context.