Graphing Polynomials

General Information
The concept of this activity is to be like a 15th century mathematician. They did not have calculators during this time
so how did they graph higher order polynomials efficiently (without the evaluation of points and connecting many
dots). This activity unifies the mathematical techniques found in sections 3.2 to 3.4 of the current text used for MTH
122 College Algebra to fully factor a fifth-degree polynomial and then use its zeros to give a sketch of the
polynomial.

Topics Needed for this Activity:

1) End Behavior based on knowledge of degree of a polynomial (S3.2)
2) Multiplicity of Zeros; Odd – Cross, Even – Bounce/Touch (S3.2)
3) Factor Theorem (S3.3)
4) Synthetic Division (S3.3)
5) Rational Zero Theorem (S3.4)

Note: The calculator will only be used to help speed up calculations and should not be used to give hints to the
properties of the polynomial. That is, you should not be graphing it on your calculators to see the end behavior,
where the zeros are, and if they bounce/cross at the zeros.

If you are in groups of two, pick two polynomials to work on; groups of three, pick three polynomials. The next
page details how the tasks should be split up.

Polynomial Choices:

1) p ( x ) =−3 x5 +31 x 4−79 x 3−7 x 2 +82 x −24

2) p ( x ) =9 x 5−57 x 4 +91 x3 +25 x 2−96 x +36

3) p ( x ) =2 x 5 +19 x 4 +54 x 3+ 37 x2 −52 x−60

4) p ( x ) =16 x5 +8 x 4 −71 x 3 +5 x 2+ 91 x−49

5) p ( x ) =5 x 5 +36 x 4 +88 x 3 +64 x 2−48 x−64

Group of Two Students

Assign each group two problems then follow the procedure below.

Stage 1 – Preliminaries (3 to 6 minutes)

Person 1 Tasks: Finding end behavior

Person 2 Tasks: Rational Zero Theorem

Stage 2 – Finding Zeros (4 to 7 minutes)

Each student should test zeros from the list of potential zeros using the calculator’s “function” feature.

Once three zeros are found move on.

Stage 3 – Dividing Out Zeros and Graphing (5 to 10 minutes)

Person 1 Tasks: Divide out the three zeros found and pass resulting quadratic to person 2

Person 2 Tasks: Factor the resulting quadratic. Graph using the zeros found. End behavior from stage one

should be used to help with graphing

Stage 4 – Switch tasks

Group of Three Students

Assign each group three problems Same procedure as above but tasks are assigned differently.

Stage 1 – Preliminaries (3 to 6 minutes)

Person 1 Tasks: Nothing now

Person 2 Tasks: Finding end behavior

Person 3 Tasks: Rational Zero Theorem

Stage 2 – Finding Zeros (3 to 6 minutes)

Stage 3 – Dividing Out Zeros and Graphing (5 to 10 minutes)

Person 1 Tasks: Divide out the three zeros found and pass resulting quadratic to person 2

Person 2 Tasks: Factor resulting quadratic and pass all zeros to person 3

Person 3 Tasks: Graph using the zeros found. End behavior from stage one should be used to help with

Graphing.

Stage 4 – Rotate Tasks

 Summary Sheet

Names: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Equation of polynomial: _________________________________________________________________________

Power Function: P ( x ) =¿ _____________________

End Behavior: As x →−∞ , f ( x ) →____________

As x → ∞ , f ( x ) → _____________

Factors of p : ________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Factors of q : ________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Potential Rational Zeros: _________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Tested Factors: ________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Zeros with Multiplicity: _________________________________________________________________________

Fully Factored Polynomial: _______________________________________________________________________
Synthetic Division Work

Resulting Quadratic: ___________________________________________________

Factored Quadratic: ____________________________________________________