Conditionals
Objective: Students will be able to identify the hypothesis and the conclusion of a conditional. To determine if a conditional is true or false. To be able to write the converse of a conditional.
Activity-Have students listen for and list conditionals expressed at home. For example, they may hear such conditionals as “If you miss you curfew, you will be grounded” or “If I for home late, we will order out for dinner.” Encourage students to share their lists with the class. You might suggest that they write the converses of their conditionals and stare whether they are true or false.
Activity-Have students visit an organization or a facility in the community, such as a recycling plant, the library, the police or fire department, a community service organization, etc. After learning about the purpose of the organization and how it serves the community, students should write three or four conditionals that apply to the organization. For example, after visiting a recycling plant, a student might write the conditional “If everyone recycles paper, then fewer trees will have to be cut down.” Ask volunteers to share their statements with the class and look for similarities and differences among the conditionals as they apply to different community groups.
Activity-Have individuals write several conditionals. Tell students to write conditionals for a variety of situations, not just mathematical statements. Then in groups of 3 or 4, students share their conditionals and the group decides whether they are true or false. As a group, students should then write the converse of each conditional and decide whether it is true or false. Encourage students to use counterexamples to illustrate why a converse is false. Ask the groups to turn in one paper showing their work, including their reasoning for determining whether a conditional or its converse is true or false.