Lesson Plan: Identifying Conic Sections
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to convert the general form of conic section equations into any of the standard forms.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- convert between general and standard forms of equations of conic sections,
- identify whether an equation of a conic section describes a parabola, a circle, a noncircular ellipse, or a hyperbola by examining its discriminant.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- manipulating and solving quadratic equations,
- equations of circles and ellipses.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- foci and directrices of conic sections.
