Lesson B: Finding Slope from a Graph

Hey Star-Splitters Algebra 1! Today, we are going to talk about the concept of slope and how you can find the slope of a line by using a graph.

So, first, what is slope?

If I said, "hey, what do you think the slope of that hill is?" You might say, "it's pretty steep," or "that hill isn't very steep at all." Similarly, the slope of a line tells you how steep that line is.

Slopes can also be positive or negative. Check it out:

Here are some words to describe that picture:

If you were a skateboarder and you were skating from the left to the right side of a graph:

• If you were going uphill, the slope of that line would be positive.

• If you were going downhill, the slope of that line would be negative.

• If the slope was flat (like just flat ground), the slope would be zero.

• If the slope was vertical (like a cliff), you wouldn't want to skate on that, so the slope is "undefined."

So, how do you find the slope of a line on a graph?

If you like to read: Check out this article

If you prefer watching videos: Check out this video

Practice Graphing Points:

If you like to play games, check these out:

Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Slope Edition)

Line Game (select "Line Game" from the first screen and you can try finding the slope of some different lines)

If you'd like to practice without a game, try some of these:

Khan Academy Slope Finding

Slope of a line tool: check out this page. Go about half way down until you see a white graph with red points on it. You can move those points around, and it will calculate the slope of the line you created just above and show you how they got it. Playing with this tool until it makes sense to you would help you!

Assignment for today:

Complete this worksheet

On the first page, the points are given to you. Draw a "triangle," find your "rise and run," and then write your slope.

On the second page, you're doing the exact same thing except the points aren't given to you. You will have to choose points to use.