EFFECT OF COEFFICIENT OF X^2 ON PARABOLA VERTEX (a<0)
Question of the Day

Consider the general form of a quadratic function,  

    or     ,    where .

Part 1
If the coefficient a becomes increasingly negative in value (i.e., as  increases while a remains negative), how will this increase affect the position of the vertex of the parabola?

For the sake of simplicity, you may assume that both b and c are fixed values and that b=1 and c=2.  (A similar analysis could be performed with b<0.)

The new vertex will be:

CIRCLE ONE:

A.	 LOWER AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

B.  LOWER AND TO THE LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

C.  SAME POSITION AS THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

D.  HIGHER AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX 

E.  HIGHER AND TO THE LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

After making your decision concerning the possible answer choices, please discuss your conjecture with your nearest neighbor and explain to each other the underlying reasoning.  You don’t necessarily have to agree with each other’s assessment, but do have a candid discussion; you are free to change your initial reasoning in light of your neighbor’s explanation

Part 2
Afterwards, please record your conjecture and reasoning in written form; a single paragraph will be sufficient.