This week in foundations, we learned about parabolas and what they are. A parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical meaning that one side looks exactly the same on the other side. First, we learned the proper vocabulary and then we learned how to graph them. The highest or lowest point of the parabola is called the vertex. the “line” that goes down the center of the parabola is known as the line of symmetry or the axis of symmetry. By using the line of symmetry, and technically cutting the parabola in half, both sides will look the exact same but mirrored. The best way to find out where the line of symmetry is, is by using the vertex, since it is the highest/lowest point of the parabola. In all equations there are exponents if the exponent is  it is automatically a parabola.

To be able to graph a simple parabola, we can use the 1-23-5 rule. these numbers represent the slope that we need to graph the parabola. For the equation , we would start at 3 on the Y axis, since it is the y-intercept. Then we would use the 1-3-5 rule by going up 1 from 3 and over 1, then 3 up and over 1, and finally 5 up and over 1.