MATH 102-008 Mathematical Literacy for College Students II Class 15, March 22, 2016 Lesson 7.1: Mathematical Models: What’s Best?

Lesson 7.1 Objectives By the end of this lesson, you should understand that: Quantifying variables is sometimes difficult, and there may be multiple methods to do so. Models can be used to help make real-life decisions, but they likely do not take into account every possible variable.

Lesson 7.1 Objectives By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: Define what is meant by the term “variable”. Describe what a mathematical model is. Identify the possible variables which may be used to model a given scenario. Use a given mathematical model to make comparisons.

Lesson 7.1 Connections Main ideas in the lesson: Mathematical models provide a way for us to compare choices based on multiple variables (or factors). The ranking models are models based on weighted averages, as discussed in Module 6.

Lesson 7.1 Connections Connections to the 8 course goals: 4. Model with mathematics. 6. Attend to precision.