Math 1 · Unit 2 · Lesson 5 · part 3 of 7

Sketch the graph from the story

Now the other direction: read a story and sketch its graph.

Sketch the graph from the story

Now the other direction: read a story and sketch its graph. Do not worry about exact numbers. Focus on the shape. Every stretch of a story does one of four things.

Climbs

Something is growing: distance away from home, height, money coming in, water filling. Steeper means faster.

Levels off

Not changing: stopped, resting, waiting, holding steady. A flat stretch.

Drops

Something is shrinking: coming home, draining, cooling, spending. Steeper means faster here too.

Jumps

A sudden change all at once: a deposit lands in the account, a bus picks up a crowd, a price goes up at midnight.

How to sketchRead the story one stretch at a time. For each stretch ask: climb, level off, drop, or jump? Fast or slow? Then draw that piece, left to right, joining onto the last one. Label the axes with what they measure. Numbers are optional; shape is the point.

Try it in your head before you sketch: A bathtub fills for 4 minutes, you soak for 10, then you pull the plug and it drains in 2. Climb (gentle, 4 minutes), level (10 minutes), drop (steep, 2 minutes). The drop is steeper than the climb because it is faster.

Where to go next

Next: Sort them: which shape?Eight stretches of stories. All the partsGraphing Stories: Match the Picture to the Story