Question 1132042
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Of course you should know how to find the slope of a line containing two points using the mathematical formula.  But it's very easy to get the wrong answers if you don't remember the formula correctly, or if you put the wrong numbers in the wrong places.<br>
I recommend that students learn to calculate slopes by drawing (at least in their minds) a picture of the two points and seeing how you get from one point to the other.<br>
In this example, you go from (-3,8) to (-2,3).  In the x direction you went from -3 to -2, a change of 1; in doing that, in the y direction you went from 8 to 3, a change of -5.  Slope is the ratio of change in y ("rise") to change in x ("run"): slope = -5/1 = -5.<br>
If you have a picture of the two points, you will be far less likely to get the wrong answer for the slope than if you plug numbers into a formula.