Free IB Maths AA SL lesson: Optimisation in context
A ready-to-teach IB Maths AA SL lesson on Optimisation in context (Unit 5 · Calculus): editable slides and teacher notes, free; a printable worksheet in 3 levels with answers for school plans. About 55 minutes.
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What's inside
- Slides (PowerPoint, editable) · freeabout 12 slides: do now, objectives, key ideas, a worked example step by step, “your turn”, practice QR code, exit ticket
- Teacher notes (PDF) · freelesson plan with timings, common mistakes, homework links
- Worksheet (PDF) · school plans5 questions, 32 marks: Fluency, Reasoning, Exam-style. Included with school plans and the teacher trial.
- Answers (PDF) · school plansthe answer to every worksheet question, from its mark scheme. Included with school plans and the teacher trial.
Learning objectives
- Optimisation Problems
- Setting Up the Function from a Diagram
- Optimisation with Trigonometric, Exponential & Logarithmic Functions
- Optimisation Practice: Justifying Maxima & Minima
Key vocabulary
- optimise: Find the maximum or minimum value of a quantity.
- constraint: A condition linking the variables (such as a fixed perimeter).
- domain: The values of the variable that make sense in context.
Common mistakes this lesson tackles
- Modelling in context: not setting up the expression, and answers that ignore the context. Translate the words first: fastest rate means maximise the derivative; closest means minimise a distance. End with a sentence in the units and form the context needs (a year, a whole number, one value).
- Differentiating before writing the quantity in one variable.
- Not justifying that the value is a maximum or minimum.
Lesson plan
| 0–5 min | Do now: students write down what they remember about Stationary points & classification and Tangents & normals at a point |
| 5–8 min | Share the learning objective and success criteria |
| 8–20 min | Teach: the worked example, step by step; students copy the method |
| 20–25 min | Your turn: 1 mini-whiteboard question; check every board before moving on |
| 25–42 min | Practise: the worksheet (5 questions in 3 levels, with school plans and the teacher trial) or the topic's practice questions online; move up a level after two right in a row |
| 42–47 min | Plenary: 1-question exit ticket; collect it to plan the next lesson |
For students: practise this topic
The worksheet's QR code opens the IB Maths AA SL Unit 5: Applications of Differentiation practice questions.
What schools get
- Set this lesson as homework, marked by AI against the mark scheme, with every result in your markbook (school Pro plan).
- This lesson's worksheet in three levels, with its answers, ready to print.
- Support, Core and Stretch versions and A/B copies of the worksheet from the full question bank, in the worksheet builder.
- Create lesson: this lesson rebuilt for your class's next scheme-of-work lesson, from the full bank.
School licences from €490 a year. Try everything free for 30 days as a teacher: no card.
Questions teachers ask
Is this lesson free?
The slides and the teacher notes are free to download with a free IB Math Revision teacher account (sign in with Google, Microsoft or email); no card. The printable worksheet in three levels and its answers are included with school plans and the free 30-day teacher trial.
Can I edit the slides?
Yes. The slides are an ordinary PowerPoint file: change, add or delete anything. They also open in Google Slides and Keynote. The logo and web address sit on the slide master, so your edits do not move them.
What do students use for homework?
The practice slide's QR code and web address take students to the IB Maths AA SL Unit 5: Applications of Differentiation practice questions on ibmathrevision.com, where the free questions are open and the full bank comes with a plan.
More free IB Maths AA SL lessons
- Previous: Tangents & normals at a point
- Next: Antiderivatives (integration)
- Same topic, IB Maths AI HL: Optimisation in context
- All free IB Maths AA SL lessons
- IB Maths AA SL scheme of work