Group Activity Cards

Use groups of 2. Materials: Almanacs, the Internet, magazines or newspapers, notebook paper

Matrix Manipulation

In this activity, you will use an almanac, the Internet, a magazine, or a newspaper article to create matrices. Begin by finding data that could be represented by 1 or more matrices. Write down a few sentences about why this data could be represented using a matrix. What will the matrix help to show? Can you make several matrices and add or subtract them? What will these sum or difference matrices represent?

Next, write your matrices. Make sure that you label your rows and columns as shown on page 73 of your textbook. Write two questions that can be answered using your matrix or matrices. Exchange papers with another group and attempt to answer their questions. If you are unable to answer their questions, explain why not. For example, if the data they included in their matrix is not appropriate, explain why it is not appropriate.