As always, a common vocabulary allows us to communicate with each other and the mathematical community at large. Although developing our own terms for mathematical ideas might make them more meaningful to us, it limits our understanding of our peers and other mathematicians and their understanding of us. If creating your own terms helps you understand, I encourage you to do so, but you must also be able to translate your math dialect into common math for the rest of us!
We have already discussed the following vocabulary terms.
- Review each term as a group and make sure everyone in the group understands them.
- Relate the terms to the diagram below. Which term matches up with which letter?
- Discuss and record your answer: What other subject area(s) uses common vocabulary for this type of curve? Why?
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