Task 1: Investigating
In this activity, you will work in groups to consider advantages and
disadvantages of an assembly line.
• Think of a process your group could perform in an assembly line.
Gather the materials. Have each person perform the entire process
once. Record each person’s time. Find the average time needed to
perform the process once.Time more people. If necessary, revise your
average.
• Now break the procedure down into separate tasks. Assign each person
in your group a task, and time how long the procedure takes. Does the
average time differ? Compare your results with those of other groups.
Task 2: Graphing
A juice bottling machine fills 1200 bottles per minute.
• Graph the number of bottles filled versus the time (in minutes) the
machine runs.
• Is this model a direct variation? If so, what is the constant of variation?
Task 3: Analyzing
Suppose you manage a juice factory. One of your machines fills 850 bottles per minute. Each day it takes 30 minutes to get the machine started after an hour for maintenance.
Graph the number of bottles filled as a function of time that the machine runs.
Find the domain and range. What do these numbers represent?
Write a function rule for your graph.
Finishing the Project
The answers to the activities should help you complete your project. Your group should prepare a presentation for the class describing how you devised, analyzed, and improved your assembly line. Demonstrate how your assembly line works and explain your analysis of each task in the assembly line. Make charts and graphs showing how you collected and analyzed your data.
Reflect and Revise
Before giving your presentation to the class, meet with another group. Have your group perform the tasks in your assembly line. Explain the improvements you have made and ask students from the other group for their comments and suggestions. You may want to make further improvements based on their ideas before planning your final presentation.
Extra Credit: Extending the Project
Investigate career possibilities in the field of quality control. Find out what education and training are necessary to become a quality control engineer. If possible, interview someone in this field to find out what types of tasks are performed daily.