Date______Name______Course___
Activity 1 UNIT 1: The meanings of the word “function”
Remember: PROPORCIONALITY and STATISTICS
Ratio of one quantity relative to another:
Example 1: In 2A, 11 of the 24 pupils are girls. What is the ratio of girls?
Ratio of girls to pupils:
(ratio form) (fraction form) (decimal form) (percentage form)
Checking the proportionality of four quantities: Looking for the 4th quantity, if proportionality
Example 2: 6 photocopies cost 14 pence, while 9 is known:
photocopies cost 21 p. Are these quantities Example 3: 6 photocopies cost 14 pence,
proportional? how much does it cost 15 photocopies?
Yes 35 pence
Constructing a sectors diagram:
Example 4: In 2A, 11 of the 24 pupils are girls. Construct a sectors diagram representing the situation:
165 º
It’s estimated that in the world there are more than 6.000 languages. Here is the translation of the word “function” to 30 different languages:
Language / Word / Language / WordArabic / وَظيفَه، عَمَل / Indonesian / fungsi
Catalan / funció / Italian / funzione, compito
Chinese / 功能 / Japanese / 機能
Czech / funkce / Korean / 기능
Danish / funktion; opgave / Latvian / funkcija; amatpienākums
Dutch / functie / Lithuanian / funkcija
Estonian / ülesanne, otstarve / Norwegian / funksjon, virksomhet
Euskara / funtzio / Polish / funkcja
Finnish / tehtävä, tarkoitus / Portuguese / função
French / fonction / Russian / функция
Galician / función / Slovak / funkcia, úloha, význam
German / die Funktion / Slovenian / funkcija
Greek / λειτουργία / Spanish / función
Hungarian / rendeltetés, funkció / Swedish / funktion
Icelandic / starf, hlutverk / Turkish / görev, işlev
Note that in most of these languages, the word comes clearly from the Latin root functio.
a. Calculate the ratio (%) languages that “function” comes from Latin to total languages.
b. Represent it in a “sector diagram”. You will need compasses, a ruler and a protractor.
c. Why do you think there is this similarity with the word “function”?
3
Functions: those strange machines Unit 1 ACTIVITY 1 -
Date______Name______Course___
Activity UNIT 1: The meanings of the word “function”
INSTRUCTIONS
In our normal life, we use the word “function” in several contexts. Here you have:
o 4 dialogs
o 4 situations
o 4 different meanings of the word from the dictionary
Your task:
1. Look up in a dictionary the words you don’t understand
2. Cut the frames, join the related items and stick them in the table in sheet 3. Guess which meaning is relevant to Mathematics.
3
Functions: those strange machines Unit 1 ACTIVITY 1 -
Date______Name______Course___
Activity UNIT 1: The meanings of the word “function”
(meaning) (situation)
(dialog)
(meaning) (situation)
(dialog)
(meaning) (situation)
(dialog)
(meaning) (situation)
(dialog)
What subject do you think each meaning is related to?
SUBJECT / MEANINGArts and Drama
Technology
History
Mathematics
Look at the example of the meaning (iv):“temperature is a function of time”
3
Functions: those strange machines Unit 1 ACTIVITY 1 -