School Bulletin: Solving quadratic equations with water balloons

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A pair of Kenosha math teachers have come up with a new solution to bring their lesson plans to life. All you need is a sling shot and a water balloon.

"Our goal is to have the kids engaged," Julie Milligan, Bradford High School Math Intervention Specialist, said. "We want to make it fun so that they remember those key points."

On Friday, May 26, Milligan and Ashley Bucolt took algebra and geometry students out to the football field. Their goal was to illustrate the quadratic equation by using the field as the x-axis and the water balloon's path as the parabola.

"The benefit to this is everyone can see it," Bucolt said. "You don't necessarily have to understand the words we're saying to see [the graph.] You don't have to know how to solve a quadratic formula to do this activity."

The students will use this lesson again for their final project. Milligan said it's based on the phone game 'Angry Birds,' and the kids will look at which character flew the highest and farthest.

Both teachers said they are confident the students will remember these activities, even if they don't continue their math education beyond high school.

"They might not remember the quadratic formula, but they'll probably remember what a parabola is," Bucolt said.

She and Milligan said they plan to expand the water balloon lesson next year and that other Bradford teachers want to get involved.