Students can hit a road block at the steps that appear to be very simple. For example, in the problem below the students are prompted to find the highest point on the graph. Many think the graph refers to the entire coordinate plane and they pick 5 as the high point. It is the highest point on the y-axis but not the graph. I introduce the problem by highlighting the actual graph in pink and explain that this highlighted line is what is meant by the graph.
The use of color also helps students distinguish between the x and y axes and what the variables x and y represent in the context of the problem (# minutes and # kilometers in this problem) – see photo above. This problem also involves plugging in a # for x (blue) IN the function (red). In the photo below you see how I use color to help emphasize this.
