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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS – 3.1

CC BY Graham Richardson
3.1 Getting Ready for a Pool Party

Rhttps://flic.kr/p/6kSQtT
A Develop Understanding Task

Sylvia has a small pool full of water that needs to be emptied and cleaned, then refilled for a pool
party. During the process of getting the pool ready, Sylvia did all of the following activities, each
during a different time interval.
Filled the pool with a hose
Removed water with a single bucket
(same rate as emptying pool)
Drained water with a hose
Cleaned the empty pool
(same rate as filling pool)
Sylvia and her two friends removed water with
Took a break
her three buckets

1. Sketch a possible graph showing the height of the water level in the pool over time. Be sure to
include all of activities Sylvia did to prepare the pool for the party. Remember that only one activity
happened at a time. Think carefully about how each section of your graph will look, labeling where
each activity occurs.

2. Create a story connecting Sylvia’s process for emptying, cleaning, and then filling the pool to the
graph you have created. Do your best to use appropriate math vocabulary.

3. Does your graph represent a function? Why or why not? Would all graphs created for this
situation represent a function?

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

https://flic.kr/p/fe77jK
CC BY David Stanley
FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS 3.2

3.2 Floating Down the River

A Solidify Understanding Task

Alonzo, Maria, and Sierra were floating in inner tubes down a

river, enjoying their day. Alonzo noticed that sometimes the water level was higher in some places
than in others. Maria noticed there were times they seemed to be moving faster than at other times.
Sierra laughed and said “Math is everywhere!” To learn more about the river,
Alonzo and Maria collected data throughout the trip.

1. Use the data collected by Alonzo to interpret the key features of this relationship.

Maria created a graph by collecting data on a GPS unit that told her the distance she had traveled
over a period of time.

2. Using the graph created by Maria, describe the key features (increasing, decreasing, domain,
range, maximum, minimum, intercepts) of this relationship.

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS 3.2

Part II: Interpreting data

3. Sierra looked at the data collected by her two friends and made several of her own observations.
Explain why you either agree or disagree with each observation made.

a) The depth of the water increases and decreases throughout the 120 minutes of floating
down the river.
b) The distance traveled is always increasing.
c) The distance traveled is a function of time.
d) The distance traveled is greatest during the last ten minutes of the trip than during any
other ten minute interval of time.
e) The domain of the distance/time graph is all real numbers.
f) The y-intercept of the depth of water over time function is (0,0).
g) The distance traveled increases and decreases over time.
h) The depth of the water is never 11 feet.
i) The range of the distance/time graph is from [0, 15000].
j) The domain of the depth of water with respect to time is from [0,120]
k) The range of the depth of water over time is from [4,5].
l) The distance/ time graph has no maximum value.
m) The depth of water reached a maximum at 30 minutes.

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS – 3.3

CC BY Global Water Forum

https://flic.kr/p/cNvKhq
3.3 Features of Functions
A Practice Understanding Task

For each graph, determine if the relationship represents a function, and if so, state the key features
of the function (key features include intercepts, intervals where the function is increasing or
decreasing, relative maximums and minimums, symmetries, domain and range, and end behavior).

1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS – 3.3

6. 7.

8.
! ! !

0 2
8. The table on the right represents a continuous
function defined on the interval from [0, 6]. 1 -3

a) Determine the domain, range, x and y 2 0

intercepts. 3 2

4 6
b) Based on the table, identify the minimum
value and where it is located. 5 12

6 20

9. The table represents a discrete function defined ! ! !

on the interval from [1,5].
1 4
2 10
a) Determine the domain, range, x and y
intercepts. 3 5
4 8
b) Based on the table, identify the minimum 5 3
value and where it is located.

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS – 3.3

Describe the key features for each situation.

10. The amount of daylight (in hours) dependent on the month of the year.

11. The first term in a sequence is 36. Each consecutive term is exactly 1/2 of the previous term.

12. Marcus bought a $900 couch on a six months, interest free payment plan. He makes $50
payments to the loan each week.

13. The first term in a sequence is 36. Each consecutive term is 1/2 less than the previous term.

14. An empty 15 gallon tank is being filled with gasoline at a rate of 2 gallons per minute.

For each equation, sketch a graph and describe the key features of the graph.

15. ! ! = −2! + 4, !ℎ!" ! ≥ 0 16. ! ! = 3 !

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS—3.4

3.4 The Water Park

https://flic.kr/p/sRGBDX
CC BY Jeff Golden
A Solidify Understanding Task

Aly and Dayne work at a water park and have to drain the water at the end of each month for the
ride they supervise. Each uses a pump to remove the water from the small pool at the bottom of
their ride. The graph below represents the amount of water in Aly’s pool, a(x), and Dayne’s pool,
d(x), over time.
Amount of water (gallons)

time (minutes)
Part I
1. Make as many observations as possible with the information given in the graph above.

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS—3.4

Part II
Dayne figured out that the pump he uses drains water at a rate of 1000 gallons per minute and
takes 24 minutes to drain.

2. Write the equation to represent the draining of Dayne’s pool, d(x). What does each part of
the equation mean?

3. Based on this new information, correctly label the graph above.

4. For what values of x make sense in this situation? (Use interval notation to write the domain
of the amount of water in Dayne’s pool).

5. Determine the range, or output values, that make sense in this situation. (Use interval
notation to write the range of the amount of water in Dayne’s pool).

6. Write the equation used to represent the draining of Aly’s pool, a(x). Using interval notation,
state the domain and range for the function, a(x) as well as the domain and range of the
situation. Compare the two domains by describing the constraints made by the situation.

Part III

Based on the graph and corresponding equations for each pool, answer the following questions.

7. When is a(x) = d(x)? What does this mean?

8. Find a(5). What does this mean?

9. If d(x)=2000, then x= ____. What does this mean?

10. When is a(x) > d(x)? What does this mean?

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS

3.5 Pooling it Together

A Solidify Understanding Task

https://flic.kr/p/7tZHkq
CC BY Hanumann
Aly and Dayne work at a water park and have to drain the water
at the end of each month for the ride they supervise. Each uses a
pump to remove the water from the small pool at the bottom of their ride. The graph below
represents the amount of water in Aly’s pool, a(x), and Dayne’s pool, d(x), over time. In this
scenario, they decided to work together to drain their pools and created the equation:

g(x) = a(x) +d(x).

Amount of water (gallons)

4,000

1 5

Answer the following questions about g(x).

1. What does g(x) represent?

2. Create the graph of g(x) on a new set of axes using the graphs of a(x) and d(x). Identify g(x)
and label (scale, axes).

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS

3. Write the equation for the function g(x) using the graph you created. Compare this equation
to the algebraic representation of finding the sum of the equations for a(x) and d(x). (The
equations were created in the last task, “The Water Park” task).

4. Should the algebraic equation of g(x) be the same as the algebraic function created from the
graph? Why or why not?

5. Use both the graphical as well as the algebraic representation to describe characteristics of
g(x) and explain what each characteristic means (each intercept, domain and range for this
situation and for the equation, maxima and minima, whether or not g(x) is a function, etc.)

6. Explain why adding the two values of the y-intercepts together in a(x) and d(x) can be used
to find the y-intercept in g(x).

7. Can a similar method be used to find the x-intercepts? Explain.

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS

3.6 Interpreting Functions

https://flic.kr/p/EKgAa
A Practice Understanding Task

CCBY Jan Kalab

Given the graph of f(x), answer the following questions. Unless otherwise specified,
restrict the domain of the function to what you see in the graph below. Approximations
are appropriate answers.

1. What is f(2)?

2. For what values, if any, does f(x) = 3?

3. What is the x-intercept?

4. What is the domain of f(x)?

5. On what intervals is f(x) > 0?

6. On what intervals is f(x) increasing?

7. On what intervals is f(x) decreasing?

8. For what values, if any, is f(x) > 3?

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS

Consider the linear graph of f(t) and the nonlinear

graph of g(t) to answer questions 9-14.
Approximations are appropriate answers.

9. Where is f(t) = g(t)?

10. Where is f(t) > g(t) ?

11. What is f(0) + g(0) ?

12. What is f(-1) + g(-1) ?

13. Which is greater: f(0) or g(-3)?

14. Graph: f(t) + g(t) from [-1, 3]

The following table of values represents two continuous functions, f(x) and g(x). Use the
table to answer the following questions:

x f(x) g(x) 15. What is g(-3)?

-5 44 -13
-4 30 -9 16. For what value(s) is f(x) = 0?
-3 20 -5
-2 12 -1 17. For what values does f(x) seem to be increasing?
-1 6 3
0 2 7
18. On what interval is g(x) > f(x)
1 0 11
2 0 15
19. Which function is changing faster in the interval [-5, -1]?
3 2 19
4 6 23
Why?
5 12 27
6 20 31

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS

Use the following relationships to answer the questions below.

ℎ ! = 2! ! ! = 3! − 2 ! ! = 8 !=4 ! = 5! + 1

20. Which of the above relations are functions? Explain.

21. Find f(2), g(2), and h(2).

22. Write the equation for g(x) + h(x).

23. Where is g(x)< h(x) ?

24. Where is f(x) increasing?

25. Which of the above functions has the fastest growth rate?

Create a graph for each of the following functions, using the given conditions

26. This function has the following features: f(2) is positive; f(-2) = 0, f(x) is always
Increasing and has a domain of All Real Numbers.

27. This function has the following features: f(3)> f(6); f(1) = 0; f(2) = 4; f(x) is increasing
from [-5, 3); has a domain from [-5, 10]

28. This function has the following features: f(x) has a constant rate of change; f(5) = 0

29. Create your own conditions- have at least three and then create examples where the
solution could be different graphs.

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SECONDARY MATH I // MODULE 3

FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS - 3.7

https://flic.kr/p/CnQMiK
CC BY Peter Pham
3.7 To Function or Not to Function
A Practice Understanding Task
Identify the two variables for each situation and determine which is independent and which
is dependent. Then, determine if the relationship is a function and justify your reasoning.

1. A person’s name 2. A person’s social security 3. The cost of gas versus the
versus their social security number versus their name. amount of gas pumped.
number.

4. 5. The temperature in degrees 6.

{ (3,6), (4, 10), (8,12) } Fahrenheit with respect to the
time of day. distance days
6 2
10 4
6 5
9 8

7. The area of a circle as it 8. 9. The volume of water in a

relates to the radius. given cylinder is dependent on
3 5 the height of water in cylinder.
5 5

7 9

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FEATURES OF FUNCTIONS - 3.7

10. The size of the radius of a 11. Students letter grade 12. The length of fence needed
circle dependent on the area. dependent on the percent with respect to the amount of
earned. rectangular area to be
enclosed.

13. The explicit formula for 14. If x is a rational number, 15. The national debt with
the recursive situation below: then f(x) = 1 respect to time.
f(1) = 3 and
f(n + 1) = f(n) + 4 If x is an irrational number,
then f(x) = 0

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