Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics
2005 Annual Conference
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
October 20-22, 2005


Exploring Exponential Relationships in Real World Biological Examples

Evrim Erbilgin, Monica K. Hurdal
Florida State University

Participants will analyze the growth of Water-hyacinth flower in a lake. These flowers can double their size as soon as two weeks. The analysis will include creating a table, graphing the relationships (exponential), finding formulas, and communicating the results with the whole class. Additionally, participants will interpret and evaluate different graphs that are plotted to represent the growth of bacteria. This lesson was developed as a collaboration between the Mathematics Department and the Mathematics Education program under Students Transitioning Toward Algebra Project (grant#371-2354B-4CH01) at Florida State University.


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Copyright 2005 by Monica K. Hurdal. All rights reserved.