Parabolas in Real Life

Your task is to find a parabola in real life or create one and take a picture of it. You will then come up
with equations (vertex form and standard form) to describe the parabola. You will superimpose a
coordinate plane and graph your equation on Desmos to confirm.

 To take a picture of your parabola, find an app that captures multiple frames in one image.
Some suggestions are OverCam, LongExpo, Slow Camera, All-In-1 Slow-Shutter
Cam. Adjust settings to capture as much of the parabola as possible. Big hint:
Keep your phone as still as possible when taking the picture to reduce
blurriness!

 Insert this picture in your Powerpoint. Duplicate the slide and superimpose a coordinate plane
in front of the image. Use the example Powerpoint to copy/paste the coordinate plane of your
choice.
 Enlarge the coordinate plane and place it so that you can tell the location of the vertex and at
least one other point. Try to line up the parabola at coordinates that are integers!
 Find the coordinates of the vertex and find the coordinates of any point on
your parabola and label them with text boxes.

Equations

 Use h, k, x, and y to find a. This will help you to find your equation in vertex
form. Add a slide to your Powerpoint showing all your work.
(http://cosketch.com/ is a good website to use as a notepad)
 Once you have your equation in vertex form, rewrite it in standard form. Add a
slide to your Powerpoint showing all your work.
Desmos Graph with your parabola

 Graph both equations on Desmos (they should show the same parabola!).
Zoom to include as much of the parabola as you did on your coordinate plane.
Take a screenshot to be pasted on your Powerpoint.
 Duplicate the slide with your picture and coordinate plane. Paste your graph
from Desmos on top of your parabola. Resize to align the x and y axes with the
x and y axes on your coordinate plane. If you found your equation correctly,
the parabola from Desmos should match up with the one in your picture!
 Hint: to make it match up more easily, take a screenshot and crop out the
same number of boxes as the coordinate plane.

Reflection Paragraph

Write one paragraph describing what the characteristics of a parabola are. Mention
symmetry and reasons why parabolas (that open downward) would have symmetry
(think physics!). Give some real life examples of parabolas and examples from real
life that are close to being perfect parabolas. For equations, mention the two things
you need to know to find an equation of a parabola.