ABSTRACT
It is challenging for many students to visualize what makes a written equation linear or nonlinear. Too often they lack experience in “playing” with situations, tables, and graphs that would help them discover what makes equations and/or situations linear or nonlinear. A powerful solution is to engage students with inexpensive models that allow them to play with the model, collect and order the data, graph that data, and then determine whether the situation is linear or nonlinear. Once the experiment is complete, students are told to graph their data and chat among themselves to describe their results. After an allotted time the teacher calls on various groups to share their work.
