Exponential Growth Project

Mrs. Anne Jeanmard uses a unique approach to insure students in her Algebra I Honors class grasp the theory of Exponential Growth activity and how cancer cells reproduce. Using marked candies to represent the rate that cancerous cells reproduce, they begin with 2 "cancer cells," i.e. two candies, each with a mark on just one side. Then they shake them in a cup and empty the cup. If any of the candies have a marking showing on the up side, then those split and students add more “cancer” cells. They repeated the process for 13 trials (or days). Start with 2 candies, shake in a cup, and pour into plate. Count the ones that have a mark showing and add that many to the group (they split by adding another one). Put all back in the cup, shake and pour. Count and add 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 20, 30, 45, 70, 105, 155, 230, etc. They then graph the results before mathematically modeling the relationship. They follow up with a discussion about how regular cancer screening (like monthly self Breast exams) are important.