One lesson objective I had was “Students will be able to explain how the parameters a, h, and k transform the parent function f(x)=x2 ”.
For the assessment piece of this, we had students choose a parameter and explain how it changed the parent function. We then had students turn this in as an exit ticket.
The task we gave them was an exploratory Desmos activity. Students were to test different values of a, h, and k to see how the parent functions changed and what specific values of a, h, and k did to the graph.
The reason we chose to do this activity is because our students struggle with creating a visual of graphs in their heads and putting it to paper. We originally thought demos would be a great way to focus on the parameters rather than having to think about how their handwritten graphs looked or creating graphs from scratch which can be time consuming.
I thought this activity fell into level two for cognitive demand because students are being asked to “make and record observations” as well as “summarize results”.
One of the key uses for this activity is for students to “explain”. I had students explain through writing in their graphic organizer the impacts of changing a, h, and k. I also had students working in groups, so they could talk/listen about their findings and explain concepts to struggling classmates.