COSMO · STUDY + TEACHING DECK

Algebra

September 7, 2025

A question worth sharing

Inequalities

Compare quantities using structure, equality cases, and transformations that preserve order.

ThinkCompareExplain

Today’s route

A question becomes an explanation.

Try

Enter through a problem. A partial attempt counts.

Connect

Use bound, equality case, convexity to name what you notice.

Convince

Build an argument a partner can check.

The goal is a method someone else can use.

The opener

Start with a question.

Opening problem

For positive a and b with a+b=10, what is the largest possible ab?

Think · 2 min

Sketch, test a small case, or make a first guess.

Pair · 3 min

Compare methods. Find one thing you agree on and one question.

Be ready to share your route, even if it is unfinished.

Compare before checking

Put two attempts in conversation.

Explain

Tell a partner how you started. Let them finish before responding.

Question

Which step feels certain? Which step still needs evidence?

Build

Combine one useful idea from each attempt into a new route.

Can you explain your partner’s method in your own words?

Board conversation

Notice before naming.

Look for structure

Try a small case and record every step.
Separate what changes from what stays fixed.
State the pattern in a sentence before naming the theorem.

Make a conjecture

We think ___ because ___. A case that might break this is ___.

What changed? What stayed the same?

Useful language

Now the language has a job.

bound

guaranteed upper or lower limit

equality case

condition making a bound exact

convexity

curvature supporting averaging inequalities

Use one of these words to explain something you already noticed.

The core idea

Keep the idea. Explain the conditions.

\frac{a+b}{2}\ge\sqrt{ab},\qquad a,b>0

The idea

Compare quantities using structure, equality cases, and transformations that preserve order.

What to remember

A sharp inequality includes both the bound and the condition for equality.

What information does this method keep?

Worked example

One route, one decision at a time

The problem

Prove (x-y)^2 ≥ 0 implies $x^{2}$ + $y^{2}$ ≥ 2xy.

Predict each next step

Expand the square: $x^{2}$ -2xy+ $y^{2}$ .
A square is nonnegative.
Move 2xy to the other side.
Equality holds exactly when x=y.

Which step needs a reason, not just a calculation?

See the structure

The structure behind inequalities

\frac{a+b}{2}\ge\sqrt{ab},\qquad a,b>0

The two-variable AM-GM bound is exact precisely when a equals b.

Read the representation

Compare quantities using structure, equality cases, and transformations that preserve order.

Look together

Point to the part that explains the relationship. Change one input and predict what changes.

What can you see here that was harder to see in words?

Two approaches

Compare the reasoning.

Structural method

Name the objects and conditions.
Use a reusable relationship.
Explain why the method must work.

Brute force

May help with a small test case.
Can hide the general reason.
Becomes unreliable when the scale grows.

Which route can you justify? What would you test first?

Reasoning clinic

Find the step that needs repair.

Investigate these concerns

May help with a small test case.
Can hide the general reason.
Becomes unreliable when the scale grows.

Repair together

Name the missing condition. Try a small counterexample. Rewrite one step so it is justified.

A useful correction explains why the original step fails.

Work together

Investigate inequalities

Your shared task

Groups identify equality cases first, then use them to choose a promising inequality.

Explore

4 min - test cases

Compare

5 min - form a rule

Defend

4 min - defend the rule

Everyone should be able to explain the group’s final claim.

Share → connect

What did the room discover?

Bring your evidence

Share a conjecture, a useful example, or a route that changed.

Connections to investigate

A sharp inequality includes both the bound and the condition for equality.
A complete solution names the condition that makes the method valid.
A counterexample is useful when it exposes a missing condition.

Which observation explains the mechanism?

Try → explain → check

Your turn to build the route

The problem

Find the minimum of x + 16/x for x>0.

Predict each next step

Apply AM-GM to x and 16/x.
Their product is 16.
The sum is at least 2sqrt(16)=8.
Equality occurs at x=4.

Which step needs a reason, not just a calculation?

Convince a skeptic

Turn a pattern into a proof.

The claim

For two positive numbers a,b, (a+b)/2 ≥ $\sqrt{ab}$ , with equality exactly when a=b.

Build the argument

Start from ( $\sqrt{a}$ - $\sqrt{b}$ )^2 ≥ 0.
Rearrange to a+b ≥ 2sqrt(ab).
Divide by 2.

What does each step rely on? Where are the conditions used?

Stretch together

Take the idea somewhere new.

Transfer challenge

Prove that among rectangles of fixed perimeter, the square has maximum area.

Choose a route

Name the objects, the conditions, and a relationship that might help. Start with one test case.

What transfers from the earlier example? What is different?

Peer review

Check the argument together.

Restate

Explain the other person’s route before evaluating it.

Test

Try a small case or boundary case. Does every step still make sense?

Revise

Fix an assumption, add a reason, or find a second method.

Where did your thinking change?

Beyond this problem

Where might this idea help?

A connection

Inequalities provide error bounds, optimization guarantees, and comparisons without exact computation.

Discuss the model

What objects or quantities are represented?
Which relationship from today is preserved?
What assumption would you check before trusting it?

Invent one more situation with the same structure.

Exit ticket

Leave with an explanation.

Question 1

For positive a and b with a+b=10, what is the largest possible ab?

Question 2

Explain why this claim is true: For two positive numbers a,b, (a+b)/2 ≥ $\sqrt{ab}$ , with equality exactly when a=b.

Question 3

Prove that among rectangles of fixed perimeter, the square has maximum area.

Choose one. Write an answer with a reason, then compare with a partner.

Reflect together

Make your thinking visible.

I used to think…

Name a claim or approach that changed.

Now I can explain…

Give the reason, not only the result.

I still wonder…

Write a question worth bringing to the next circle.

Share one sentence. Ask one follow-up question.

The idea to keep

A sharp inequality includes both the bound and the condition for equality.

Use the matching practice sets to move from direct examples to proof and transfer.

A good question belongs to everyone in the room.