What is a Parabola? | Printable Summary

If you have a positive value for a, the parabola will have an upward-facing U shape
If you have a negative value for a, the parabola will have an downward-facing U shape
The vertex is either the minimum or maximum value of a quadratic function
The axis of symmetry splits the parabola into two symmetrical halves

1. The 'a' value is the coefficient in front of the x² term
2. Our 'a' value here is 1, which is positive
1. The 'a' value is the coefficient in front of the x² term
2. Our 'a' value here is -1, which is negative