Algebra II Task: Blogs and Frogs

Algebra II Task: Blogs and Frogs

Standards & Objectives

Essential and guiding questions: 
  • What happens to the number of blog followers in the first problem as N gets bigger and bigger?
  • What happens to the distance the frog travels in the second problem as N gets bigger and bigger?
  • How are these problems alike? How are they different?
  • What is the key piece of information in the problem that determines whether your sum diverges (as in the blog problem) or converges (as in the frog problem)?

Activity/Task Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding
Differentiation suggestions: 

If students can’t get started….

  • What information does the problem ask you to put in your table?
  • How does making a table help you organize your information?
  • Do you see any patterns in your table?
Extension suggestions: 

If students finish early….

  • Re-work the frog problem using different values for the common ratio. Is there a reasonable value of the common ratio that will allow your frog to reach the pond in a finite number of hops? Why or why not?
  • In the blog problem, are there “real-world” limitations to the number of followers Erin’s blog can have? If so, what are those limitations?