Closed but provocative questions: curves enclosing unit area

Foster, Colin

Abstract

This article describes a task leading to work on curve sketching, simultaneous equations and integration to find the area enclosed between two curves. An initial closed question is used to confront students with a provocative answer, which they then explore in a much more open-ended way.

Citation

Foster, C. (2014). Closed but provocative questions: curves enclosing unit area. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 46(5), https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2014.992989

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 17, 2014
• Deposit Date: Aug 7, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 7, 2015
• Journal: International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
• Print ISSN: 0020-739X
• Electronic ISSN: 0020-739X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Open
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2014.992989
• Keywords: Closed questions; curve sketching; integration; intersecting curves; inverse problems; open questions; provocative questions; quadratic equations; simultaneous; equations; working backwards
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/740786
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0020739X.2014.992989#.VcSFyflLZgI
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology on 17 December 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0020739X.2014.992989#.VcSFyflLZgI