Factoring Parabolas Activity

Below is a graph of a funtion x=c(x-a)(x-b), with a, b, c defined by the different sliders. First, leave c=1 and slide a and b. Then leave a and b alone and slide c. Notice what happens to the graph as you do each of these.

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Things to think about:

How did the graph change as you changed a and b? Where could you "see" a and b in the graph?
What if a and b were equal? What did the graph look like?
How did the graph change as you changed c? Did c affect the zeroes?
What happens when c=0? Why does that happen?
How did can this worksheet help us solve quadratic equations?

Brian Bisignani, Created with GeoGebra