Lesson 10

Up to this point, most quadratic expressions that students have transformed from standard form to factored form had a leading coefficient of 1, that is, they were in the form of \(x^2 + bx +c\) because the squared term had a coefficient of 1. There were a few instances in which students rewrote expressions in standard form with a leading coefficient other than 1. Those expressions were differences of two squares, where there were no linear terms (for instance, \(9x^2-64\) or \(25x^2-9\)). Students learned to rewrite these as \((3x+8)(3x-8)\) or \((5x+3)(5x-3)\), respectively.

In this lesson, students consider how to rewrite expressions in standard form where the leading coefficient is not 1 and the expression is not a difference of two squares. They notice that the same structure used to rewrite \(x^2 + 5x+4\) as \((x+4)(x+1)\) can be used to rewrite expressions such as \(3x^2+8x+4\), but the process is now a little more involved because the coefficient of \(x^2\) has to be taken into account when finding the right pair of factors. The work here gives students many opportunities to look for and make use of structure (MP7).

This lesson aims to give students a flavor of rewriting more complicated expressions in factored form, and to suggest that it is not always practical or possible. This experience motivates the need for other strategies for solving equations and prepares students to complete the square in a series of upcoming lessons.

Acquire devices that can run Desmos (recommended) or other graphing technology. It is ideal if each student has their own device. (Desmos is available under Math Tools.)