5.6.

4 Journal: Designing a Mountain Landscape Journal

Algebra II Sem 1 (S4503347) Harrison Hsu

Points possible: 20 Date: ____________

Scenario: Making Mountains

Instructions:

View the video found on page 1 of this journal activity.

Using the information provided in the video, answer the questions below.
Show your work for all calculations

1. Complete the table to summarize the presentation. (3 points: 1 point each)

Teen 1's opinion 3 hills need three roots

Teen 2's opinion 3 hills need a 6th degree polynomial

What do I need to do? Find out which teen is right

2. Here are the requirements for the layers of hills that teen 1 wants to create: two layers that have the
same general shape — three hills — and are based on the same equation, and one layer that is just a
smooth curve in the background.

Take a look at teen 1's initial polynomials for three layers of hills. Teen 1 has described what he thinks
each modification to the initial polynomial will do. Sketch each curve (in a different color, preferably). (You
will be asked to find and repair mistakes in the next section.) (6 points: 2 points for each curve)
Hill 1: My first layer needs three peaks. I chose three points on the x-axis (the three zeros), and then I
wrote each as a binomial to create the first polynomial. F(x) = (x – 1)(x – 3)(x – 4) Hill 2: My second layer

should be a useful transformation of the first. Using the first polynomial as the base, I multiplied it by

to flip it and make the hills steeper. Then, I added 3 to shift it to the right. F(x) =– (x – 1)(x– 3)(x – 4) + 3

Hill 3: This hill should be a shallow parabola that will rise up in the foreground of my picture. F(x) = 4(x– )
(x – 5)

3. Are these the hills teen 1 was trying to design? Remember, teen 1 wanted one layer of three hills,
another set of three hills using the same base equation, and one long, low hill. Find any mistakes that
teen 1 made in his design and in the reasoning he presented when explaining the transformations of the
equations. (3 points)

In graph #1: He needed three hills, but only had one hill in the equation
In graph #2: He didn’t make his hills steep enough, and there is still only one hill opposed to the
three he said he wanted
In graph #3: The curve is the opposite way, and it is a shallow parabola.

4. Write equations for three hills that do meet the requirements. Sketch them on one axis. (For the
purposes of this exercise, this is a sketch, so the steepness and minimums and maximums of the graphs
do not need to be exact). (6 points: 1 point for each equation, 1 point for each sketched curve)

Fixed Hill 1: (-1)(x^2-1)^2(x^2-4)

Fixed Hill 2: (-2)(x^2-1)^2(x^2-4)-7
Fixed Hill 3: -1/7(x-½ )(x-5)
5. What might be an advantage and a disadvantage of describing hills for a computer program using
polynomial functions? (2 points)

An advantage of describing hills using polynomial functions is that the functions can be very
precise and follow an exact curve which is exactly what the hill may look like. However, a
disadvantage to this is that it would take a lot of knowledge and perhaps experience in order to
get it right quickly.