Students investigate where exponential patterns appear in daily life and determine whether evidence supports a linear, exponential, or neither model. They interpret initial value, growth or decay rate, graph behavior, and coefficients while using positive, negative, and rational exponents to model authentic contexts. Beginning with an Exponential Curve Hunt, students create and revise a poster, slide deck, or video that clearly connects a real-world situation, function, data, and graph. They present final model videos at the Math in Motion Showcase, exchange peer feedback, and demonstrate growth from first draft to final product.

Students will identify exponential patterns in daily life and use data to justify whether a situation is linear, exponential, or neither. Students will build and interpret an exponential model, explaining its initial value, growth or decay rate, graph behavior, and use of positive, negative, or rational exponents in context. Students will create, critique, revise, and present a poster, slide deck, or video that clearly connects a real-world situation, function, and graph for the Math in Motion Showcase.

Students create an Exponential Curve Hunt gallery of possible real-world growth and decay examples, then select one supported by reliable data. Each team develops a model draft that classifies the pattern as linear, exponential, or neither and interprets the initial value, growth or decay rate, coefficients, and relevant positive, negative, or rational exponents. Students revise their work using a checklist and peer feedback, documenting changes from the first draft. The final product is a poster, slide deck, or short video presented at the Math in Motion Showcase that clearly connects the context, function, data, and graph.

Begin with an “Exponential Curve Hunt” featuring stations with real data from compound interest, medication decay, phone-battery use, and social-media sharing. In teams, students graph or inspect each dataset, classify it as linear, exponential, or neither, and mark evidence such as constant differences, constant ratios, and initial values. Teams then search school, home, or trusted online sources for one additional candidate and share it in a rapid gallery walk. Close by asking, “Where do exponential patterns appear in daily life, and how can we identify and explain what they mean?”

Host a “Math in Motion Showcase” with student posters, slide decks, and videos displayed at stations around the room. Visitors rotate through stations, hear students explain the context, function type, initial value, growth or decay rate, and graph meaning, then leave specific feedback. End with a celebration gallery walk where students highlight strong evidence, clear communication, and meaningful revisions from first draft to final model.