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  Journal: Designing a Mountain Landscape Journal
Algebra II Sem 1 Name:  
Date:  

Scenario: Making Mountains

Instructions:

View the video found on page 1 of this journal activity.

Using the information provided in the video, answer the questions below.

Show your work for all calculations

1. Complete the table to summarize the presentation. (3 points: 1 point each)

Teen 1's opinion

Teen 2's opinion

What do I need to do?

2. Here are the requirements for the layers of hills that teen 1 wants to create: two
layers that have the same general shape — three hills — and are based on the same
equation, and one layer that is just a smooth curve in the background.

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Take a look at teen 1's initial polynomials for three layers of hills. Teen 1 has
described what he thinks each modification to the initial polynomial will do. Sketch
each curve (in a different color, preferably). (You will be asked to find and repair
mistakes in the next section.) (6 points: 2 points for each curve)

Hill 1: My first layer needs three peaks. I chose three points on the x-axis
(the three zeros), and then I wrote each as a binomial to create the first polynomial.
F(x) = (x – 1)(x – 3)(x – 4)

Hill 2: My second layer should be a useful transformation of the first. Using the first
polynomial as the base, I multiplied it by to flip it and make the hills steeper.

Then, I added 3 to shift it to the right. F(x) =– (x – 1)(x – 3)(x – 4) + 3

Hill 3: This hill should be a shallow parabola that will rise up in the foreground of my
picture. F(x) = 4(x– )(x – 5)

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3. Are these the hills teen 1 was trying to design? Remember, teen 1 wanted one layer
of three hills, another set of three hills using the same base equation, and one long,
low hill. Find any mistakes that teen 1 made in his design and in the reasoning he
presented when explaining the transformations of the equations. (3 points)

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4. Write equations for three hills that do meet the requirements. Sketch them on one
axis. (For the purposes of this exercise, this is a sketch, so the steepness and
minimums and maximums of the graphs do not need to be exact). (6 points: 1 point
for each equation, 1 point for each sketched curve)

5. What might be an advantage and a disadvantage of describing hills for a

computer program using polynomial functions? (2 points)

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5.6.4 Journal: Designing a Mountain Landscape 4/4

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