Calculus: Optimisation

The presentation begins with a review of quadratics and presents students with an optimisation question which they are expected to solve using quadratics. The concept of optimisation is then explored in more detail by asking students to find the maximum volume that can be made from a 12cm x 12cm square (in the context of for instance minimising production costs). This site provides a useful platform through which to launch into a discussion about finding the maximum volume. There are then a selection of questions which I printed out and placed around the room for students to tackle, in pairs. For the plenary, the students are presented with a similar (but note not identical) problem to the one at the start of the lesson and are asked to solve using calculus before checking their answer using quadratics. Please Review