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Useful Applets

Two applets I found that would be very useful in a beginning algebra class are the following:

the domain of a function and the range of a function

These are both very good ways of showing all the values of the domain or the range in a very visual way.

Another useful applet I would use is one which shows extraneous roots and where they appear on a graph. This applet would be very good in again a beginning algebra class:

extraneous roots

The following applet would be used in a more advanced class, for example pre-calculus, when teaching polar coordinates. It is a very easy way to show the comparison of rectangular coordinates:

polar vs. rectangular coordinates

I would really like to learn how to re-create the applets for domain and range so that I can choose graphs for students to practice with instead of the given ones on the applet.

2011 02 20 e.ekern Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Applets!

One applet I like allows students to review the graph of an ellipse or a hyperbola.  It was interesting to change the variables so the graph of the ellipse turns into a hyperbola.  I think this a a cool way to review and make the concepts plant a bit better in the students minds.

Another applet is a simple visual explanation of why Side-Side-Angle does not prove triangle congruence.  I think this is great thing for students to manipulate and explore so they are not tempted to use it in their proofs.

The last applet I would like to share involves Morley’s Theorem.  This Theorem trisects the angles inside a triangle and the intersections for an equilateral triangle.  I’m not sure if geometry classes would teach this but it could be a fun exploration when working with triangles.

I thought the Side-Side-Angle applet did something cool that I would like to learn how to do.  Once the triangle was complete, the color changed.  When creating these types of applets and examples this might be useful to show completion or non-completion of the activity.

2011 02 20 jcarlson Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Cool Applets

This applet would be great for helping students understand the way related rates change. Students can also change the light source location to learn about how different locations change the way the shadows move.

This applet is a great way for students who are first being introduced to polar coordinates to see the way the function is translated into the new coordinate system.

This applet is a really nice way for students to concretely see the multiplication of a binomial.

I would really like to know how the box was created in the optimization problem.

2011 02 20 Jess Yost Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Applets

I found one that shows the graph of the inverse of sin. I thought it was really cool to use to show students how they are different, as well as what point is the inverse at when on the sin function. Another one I found is dealing with tangents to a circle, it shows what the tangent line looks like at all the points on a circle. I think this applet would be awesome to use when you are just starting to look at tangent lines and what they look like. The third applet that I thought was really cool was the ladder sliding applet, this is when students are working on areas of triangles and how they might change. The applet uses a story problem to get the students interested and then shows how it changes when the ladder slides down the wall. Mostly I am really interested in how they got this fundamental theorem applet to work the way that it does. It seems very complicated but super interesting.

2011 02 18 WeberR Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Applets

I found some cool applets about polar coordinates, probability (spinner), and triangle properties.  I’m most interested in learning how the triangle applet works.

2011 02 18 JennyW Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Using computers to share visualizations

One of the ways math teachers use computers to help them teach, is to use computers to provide animated visualization tools to convey important concepts.  You saw that with the parabola with sliders you created last class.  Besides using sliders to make instantly changing graphs to help students understand the effects of different terms in a function, some math animations are:

Secant and tangent lines in the definition of the derivative. (Another version)

Riemann sums

Circles and the sine (or cosine) curve

One you may never have thought of before is equal areas by shearing.

What other ideas would it be nice to have a computer illustration for?

Assuming we don’t spend the rest of the class going off on a tangent, we’ll look at ways to explore and learn about self similar fractals using the computer as a teaching and learning tool.

In the unlikely event that we get that far, we might look at

2011 02 17 LaurelLangford Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Some links to fun applets

I found a new collection of applets, so I thought I’d better save the link somewhere.  Here it is (SLU was new to me) along with a bunch of other sites that might (or might not) be new to you.

2011 02 17 LaurelLangford Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

More Excel

Today we’re going to review some of the things we did with Excel last week, and try out a few new things:

2011 02 11 LaurelLangford Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Fathom

Today we are learning how to use some of the features in Fathom.  For our turn-in assignment on Fathom, you’ll be importing some data from Excel, and using Fathom to fit a line or curve to help analyze the data.

This is my box folder where the data is that we’ll be using.

2011 02 09 LaurelLangford Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Divisibility with Excel

I found a couple interesting lesson plans for sixth grade. They make good use of a spreadsheet program to help students visualize divisibility patterns. The Divisibility lesson plan and the student worksheet are simple, but could be expanded for use with higher grade levels. The same teacher also created a lesson plan for finding Least Common Multiples. It also includes a student worksheet. The use of patterns is a great way to help younger students understand these concepts. Spreadsheets are excellent at creating and illustrating these patterns quickly. Another great use of spreadsheets is to teach sequences and series. Again the pattern theme comes into play, but this time for a much more abstract concept. I did not find a good lesson plan already written, but I found a tutorial about the Fibonacci sequence that inspired me to use a spreadsheet to work with sequences and recursive relationships.

2011 02 07 Sharon Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink