Curriculum › Math ›Grade 6

Grade 6 Math · Level 4, Coordinate Geometry & 3D Geometry

Dependent & Independent Variables

How the lesson starts: Dependent & Independent Variables

1. Gizmo the part maker

   Welcome to the robot factory! Engineer Ada's machine, Gizmo, pops out 3 shiny parts every minute. Run Gizmo longer, and you get more parts. Two numbers are changing together! Today you'll learn which one is in charge.

2. Who's in charge?

   Ada writes a table. 1 minute makes 3 parts. 2 minutes, 6 parts. 3 minutes, 9 parts. 5 minutes, 15 parts. Ada chooses how long to run Gizmo, so minutes is the independent variable. The parts depend on the minutes, so parts is the dependent variable.

3. Fill Ada's table

   A new machine follows y = 4x. Here x is the independent variable, and y depends on it. To fill the table, put each x into the rule. When x = 3, y = 4 × 3 = 12. When x = 5, y = 4 × 5 = 20. Watch out: 4x means 4 times x, not 4 plus x!