Lesson 3: The Standard Form of a Quadratic Equation

Standards:
HSF-LE.A.4- Construct and compare linear, and quadratic models.
HSF-IF.C.7- Graph functions expressed symbolically and show key features of the graph.
a. Graph linear and quadratic equations and show intercepts, maxima and minima.
HSF-BF.B.3- Identify the effect on the graph by replacing
for specific values of .

by

, and

Objective
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to accurate identify the vertex of a quadratic equation
that is expressed in standard form.
Lesson Management: Focus and Organization
This class will be discussion based, but will be based around the idea of deriving a formula that can
represent the coefficients and when we have a quadratic function in standard form. The end result
of this derivation is to find a way to determine the vertex of a quadratic function expressed in standard
form.
Introduction
As the students walk in, they will have their daily warm up question posted. The warm up question will
ask the students to determine if they can find the vertex of a quadratic function written in standard
form and a picture of its graph without graphing it themselves (by only using the function itself). They
will soon see that they do not know how to find the vertex, which is what we will be learning in this
lesson.
Input
Task Analysis
After the warm up question, we will introduce the standard form of a quadratic equation, or

where

and are real-number coefficients.

We will then discuss what is similar and what is different between the standard form and the vertex
form of a quadratic equation. The big points here are that both share , and that standard form does
not have a or value, but does have and values.
We will use this observation and begin with the vertex form of a quadratic equation, and derive a
way to find the vertex.
(1)
Expanding the squared term:
(2)
Multiplying the binomials (FOIL):
(3)
Distributing the :
(4)
THINK PAIR SHARE: What do you think happens next? Students will be asked to think for a minute,
share their thoughts about the derivation so far and what may come next, and then share their thoughts

with that class to gain a better understanding of who is following along and where students are having
trouble with the content.
Since
And since

is a coefficient for our

term, we can say that

is what is left, we can say that

Here, I will remind the students that the vertex is

giving us

. We can now use

and solve for ,

.
We can then find our value by evaluating the function for
.
Voila! We have found a way to determine our vertex when given a function in standard form. Now
that we have found our vertex, we can determine our axis of symmetry, maximum or minimum value,
domain and range. We can also just substitute our values of , and into a vertex form equation to
make our standard form equation into a vertex form equation.

Thinking Levels (Blooms)

5- Synthesis: Students will construct a method for finding the vertex (and other characteristics) of a
quadratic equation in standard form. They will do this by deriving the vertex form and finding what
equal to.

is

Methods, Materials, and Technology

This lesson will incorporate deriving meaning of different coefficients from two different
representations of a quadratic function. Most of the work will be done on the board and in the students
notes. We may use Desmos just to show that a vertex form function and a standard form function
represent the same function, but just look different.
Modeling
The modeling for this lesson will be done on the whiteboard. It will depict a story in a way. We will make
our way from the left side of the board to the right side, showing work and making connections as we go
in an effort to determine how to find our vertex when given a standard form quadratic function.
Checking for Understanding
While the students are working on their assignment, the teacher will walk around asking the students
questions about their work as a means of formative assessment. Since this lesson can be quite lengthy
because of discussions as we proceed through the lesson, I will ask students to complete a 2-3 question
exit slip that has them find the vertex of a standard form quadratic equation and also determine the
various characteristics of that function once they have found the vertex.
Guided Practice
As a class, we will discuss and work through problems that require us to find the vertex of a standard
form quadratic equation.
Collaborative or Independent Practice

Students will work collaboratively or independently (based on their preference) on the exit slip to be
completed by the end of the class period.
Closure
At the end of class, the students will be asked to turn in their exit-slips. We will also have a short wrap
up discussion on what benefits the standard form equation has over the vertex form.
Assessment
For this lesson, the students exit slip will be a formative assessment for this lesson. It will be short and
easy for me to determine what misconceptions, if any, students are having with the ideas covered in
class.

Reflection
After the lesson, I will reflect and make changes to the lesson as needed for future reference or for
future use. I will also identify areas in the lesson that may need more or less emphasis, depending on
how the students reacted to the lesson.