In this activity, students examine graphs for unemployment percentages in the United States and in Michigan. Students are asked to interpret the highest and lowest points on the graph in terms of the situation. In the associated Algebra 1 lesson, students look at features of graphs, including the maximum and minimum. As students interpret the graph in the context of the situation, they reason abstractly and quantitatively (MP2).

The purpose of the discussion is to examine graphs to relate important points such as the maximum and minimum to the situation described by the graphs. Select students to share their solutions. Here are some questions for discussion:

• "Are there other features that you think are important besides the highest and lowest points on the graph?” (In 2005, there is another low point for Michigan’s unemployment percentage even if it is not the lowest on the entire graph. There is also something significant happening during 2008 since there is such a great jump during that year.)
• “Why do you think it might be important to pick out the highest and lowest values on a graph like this?” (It gives an idea of the range of values that are possible and can lead to an interesting discussion about the circumstances surrounding those points. For example, why is the maximum for these graphs around 2009 and 2010? What was happening in the US and Michigan during those years?)

The purpose of the discussion is to collect information about what students may find interesting about the graphs. Select students to share the features they found interesting. For each question, press students to share any additional answers they have. There may be points that some people found interesting and others did not, and there may be different ways to describe the voltage within the wire (for example, by referring to the duration, referring to the point, referring to the rate at which the voltage changes, or other methods).