Thinking Classroom

I had an opportunity to try a thinking classroom task with an MBF3C class. They have been working on quadratics and problem solving.

I introduced the rules of standing up at the boards, in random groups of 3, and each group has one marker, and the person who has the marker is not in charge of doing the thinking.

I gave the students a scenario of someone seeking riches through popcorn sales. They have talked with a business analyst who gave a profit equation. P=-60(x-4)^2+120, where P is profit and x is price of a bag of popcorn. I asked them if my friend’s plan of selling a bag for $6 is a smart plan.

Students worked in their groups, and many started with graphs. We needed a bit of prompting and some redirecting, but groups got there in the end, showing graphs that open down, with a vertex at (4,120).

Some groups decided to substitute a price of $6 into their equation to start.

making a negative profit is never a good idea!

Groups decided that the best price would be $4 per bag.