Students learn arc of life through parabolas

Doings, The (La Grange - La Grange Park - La Grange Highlands, IL) | May 29, 2008| | Copyright

Students at Westchester Middle School could be seen tossing softballs around the athletic fields last week.

They weren't playing catch, though, but rather gaining insight into the rules of nature's game.

The eighth-grade algebra class has been studying the math behind the parabola, one of the most abundant shapes found in nature, science, architecture and engineering. A parabola is the curved trajectory made by anything that has to fight gravity, according to teacher John Tomczak.

"If you can determine the equation for the first part of the arc, you can project what's going to happen during the ...

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