Exponentials Lesson Plan for 11th Grade Students

Topic: Functions and their applications

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to define functions and relate them to real-world situations.
• Students will be able to identify the input and output variables of a given function and graph it on a coordinate plane.
• Students will be able to solve simple problems using functions.

Materials

• Cartridge pen and paper for each student
• Calculator for each student
• Handouts with examples of functions

Warm-up

• Ask students what they already know about functions. Write their answers on the board.
• Ask students to give examples of functions they encounter in daily life (e.g. a function of a microwave is to heat food, a function of a car is to transport people).
• Ask students to give examples of functions they don't understand and write them on the board.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the concept of exponential functions and their characteristics (base, exponent, horizontal asymptote).
• Show examples of exponential functions, explain how to graph them, and how to solve them.
• Explain the difference between exponential functions and non-exponential functions.

Guided Practice

• Provide students with exercises about exponential functions and have them work in pairs to solve the problems.
• Walk around the room and assist students as needed.

Independent Practice

• Have students create a project-based activity that involves working with exponential functions. One example could be creating an interactive graph that allows users to enter values for x and y and illustrates the graph of an exponential function.

Closure

• Review the key concepts of exponential functions and their applications in the real world.
• Have students share their projects and discuss what they learned about exponential functions.

Assessment

• Observe students during the guided practice and independent practice activities to assess their understanding of exponential functions.
• Collect and grade the projects submitted by students as a form of assessment.