Linear Equations and Housing Prices Requirements

Directions:

You will access the Internet to search for housing prices in various cities and compare the prices to the number of square feet found in the living area of a house. A linear equation will be derived from this data on a coordinate plane using the "best-fit" method.

Requirements:

1. You must collect data from at least 5 properties in each city you research.
2. The data must include the price of the property and the square footage of the house.(If square footage is not given, it is possible to get a rough calculation of square footage if room dimensions are given)
3. Plot the data on a coordinate plane as a relation of price over square footage.
4. Draw the best fitting line and write an equation in slope-intercept form.
5. You must collect data from at least 3 cities.
6. Each city you research must be located on your U.S. map.
7. Answer the questions below to summarize your findings.

Questions:

1. How much does a 5,000 sq.foot home sell for in each location that was researched?
2. What does the slope of the equation represent?
3. What does the 'b' value in the slope-intercept form of the equation represent?
4. What does the line represented on the graph indicate about the cost of housing?
5. How did the prices of homes vary from city to city? What do you think could account for the differences in purchase prices?
6. Based on your data, which of the cities that you researched offers the best value in housing? Why?
7. Decide whether realty is a profession that requires math. If so, how much and what type? If not, why not?

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Copyright © 1996, Jill Tucker. These pages may be copied and used by other teachers, by school districts and by non-profit institutions but may not be redistributed, republished or sold without permission.

Revised 8/16/96