SETTING THE SCENE

So far we’ve talked about the algebra of quadratics and saw the power of symmetry throughout that story. Now we’ll discuss the graphing of quadratics and see the power of symmetry at play yet again. Symmetry is such a mighty good friend!

Before we move to the opening puzzle, let’s have a brief discussion about what mathematics is.

MATHEMATICS AS A LANGUAGE

Many people say that mathematics is a language. And this is true. Since this essay and the video accompanying it are being portrayed in English, the language of mathematics is, right now, English! (And if I were writing in Hindi or in Korean, the language of mathematics would be Hindi or Korean.)

Every mathematical statement is a sentence. For example, the statement

\(5=2+3\)

has a noun (the quantity “\(5\)”), a verb (“equals”), and an object (the quantity “\(2+3\)”). As such the sentence should come with proper English punctuation: It needs a full stop (period) at its end.

\(5=2+3\).

The statement \(7>4+9\)  is also a sentence.

Our first sentence happened to be a true sentence about numbers and this second one a false sentence about numbers. As mathematics tends to focus on truth, it is interested in sentences that represent true statements about numbers.

But matters are a little curious in an algebra class. We write sentences about …

READ MORE HERE: QUADRATICS PD Essay 5.1

(See too Edfinity.com/XXX for a robust source of curriculum practice problems for you collate, organise, and use.)

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