Lesson Objectives: This activity reinforces the concepts of slope and x and y-intercepts and also makes students more familiar with Slope Intercept Form. This activity may be paired with in-class discussions of how to calculate slope and find intercepts. It could also be extended to lessons on writing equations of lines in which students could adjust the sliders to make their own lines and find the equations.
Lab Overview: This GeoGebra lab features a line graphed in the coordinate plane. Several points are plotted on the line as well as labeled x and y intercepts. Its equation is in Slope Intercept Form and the values of both the slope and y intercept are independent values controlled by two sliders. Students will adjust each slider to change the slope of the line and the y-intercept. They will explore how different slopes affect a line (positive, negative, and zero slope) and practice locating the intercepts, both analytically and graphically. Students can compare visual changes in the graph to its equation in slope intercept form.
