Intro to the Quadratic Formula

The first time a kid sees the Quadratic Formula, panic sets in. It's so long! What is that weird +- sign? Can't I please just factor?? I made this green poster on cardstock to hang on our math word wall. The white letters I made with white out to emphasize where we have to add our A, B and C values.

This is the Quadratic Formula template I created this year for the Quadratic Formula after becoming obsessed with warm up templates. On the front board, I shine the slide below. Students then copy the given equation onto their template and solve with using the Quadratic Formula. 

You can get the template and Powerpoint slides in the sidebar "Freebies" section. You can also check out this post for more free Algebra and Algebra 2 warm up templates. 

There's a Quadratic Formula reference poster in this Algebra Word Wall. I hand-colored this one, but there's also a color version included. I like color coding the variables so that students can visualize where to plug in their values.

This Quadratic Formula pennant is a fun way to assess student understanding of the Quadratic Formula while also decorating your classroom with math. 

Here is a "skeleton" (I need a better word for this) Quadratic Formula that you can paste into worksheets if your students need more help. I eventually pull this skeleton away but find that it is really needed at first. 

We summarized our Quadratic Formula understanding wit this paper chain activity. All of the problems can be factored, but I find that my students all choose to use the formula. 

We then move onto solving quadratics with the graphing calculator, which you can read about here. 

What is the Quadratic Formula?

The Quadratic Formula is a formula we can use to find where a parabola hits the x-axis. This can tell us when an object thrown into the air will hit the ground. Students have asked versions of this question over the years, and I always geek out just a bit that it's the axis of symmetry x = -b/2a + and - "some extra stuff".

More posts:

> Fun With Quadratics

> High School Math Word Wall Ideas

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