Dependent and independent variables

The topic  is a topic under the 6th Grade Math Mission. This exercise provides practice with the concepts of dependent and independent variables.

Types of Problems
There are four types of problems in this exercise:


 * 1) Use the information to solve the problem: This problem describes a situation and may provide an equation, chart or graph to assist understanding. A question is asked and the student is asked to find the correct solution and write it in the space provided.Daiv1.png
 * 2) Identify independent and dependent variables: This problem provides a word problem and possibly a graph, or chart of the information. The student is asked to identify the independent and dependent variables and possibly answer other related questions.Daiv2.png
 * 3) Find equation and fill chart: This problem describes a situation and asks the student to accomplish two tasks. Write an equation that models the situation and fill in chart correctly with that equation.Daiv3.png
 * 4) Plot points: This problem gives a word problem and a chart with dots that can be moved. The student is asked to move the dots to the appropriate places on the graph as described by the situation.Daiv4.png

Strategies
To attain accuracy badges the student needs to know what the words independent and dependent mean in context of functions. The speed badges are fair because timing tolerances are reasonably set.
 * 1) The independent variable, often represented by x, is the variable that is not controlled in a situation. The value of the other variable "depends" on the value of this variable.
 * 2) The dependent variable, often represented by y, can be thought of as the final result of a word problem.
 * 3) When an equation is written in a problem it can be used as long as care is taken to realize which variables represent which amounts.
 * 4) The problem descriptions span several problem types, so it is possible to use information from certain problems on other problems.