Unit 3, Lesson 12
Writing and Graphing Inequalities
Accelerated 7
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
In this lesson, students extend their work with inequality statements by considering comparisons with an unknown quantity. Students begin by examining an image of a person standing next to a basketball hoop and determine possible minimum and maximum heights of the hoop. They express possible heights as a variable in an inequality statement.
Next, students are presented with two types of scenarios and must reason about the quantities involved (MP2). In one type, the variable represents a measurement, and the possible values can usually be any number within the range satisfied by the constraint. In the second type, where the variable represents a count of people or objects, the possible values are restricted to whole numbers within the range. Students also consider whether the constraint itself is included or excluded in the set of possible values, and they learn how to indicate this result on the number line representation with open or closed circles. Note that inequality symbols in grade 6 are limited to < and >. For situations where the constraint itself is included, students write 2 statements, such as and .
In this course, this lesson is the first time that students work with inequality statements.
- Coordinate verbal, algebraic, and number line representations of inequalities.
- Critique (orally and in writing) possible values given for a situation with a constraint, including determining whether the boundary value is included and making sense of situations with discrete quantities.
- Interpret phrases that describe a quantity constrained by a maximum or minimum acceptable value, e.g. “at least,” “at most,” “up to,” “more than,” “less than,” etc., and write an inequality statement to represent the constraint.
Let’s write inequalities.
Required Materials
Required Preparation
None