Thursday, January 30, 2014

Midterm Week: Ingite, TED and Filk!

Midterm Week: Ingite, TED and Filk!
Showing a 5-10 minute YouTube at the beginning of class once a week is a great way to start a 5-10 minute discussion on interesting topics related to your curriculum to which students may otherwise never be exposed!

Recently, I tried out an Ignite Thursday. The Ignite Show used to be on the BBC. It was great in that the speaker had exactly 5 minutes to speak. Also, the speaker had 20 slides to talk about that auto-advanced every 15 seconds. Needless to say, this make for a very quick, if informative, presentation.

I found a nice Ignite by a curator at the Walters Museum, William Noel. His talk was about how he discovered long lost texts by Archimedes buried inside a medieval palimpsest. What's amazing about this discovery is that the text shows Archimedes doing advanced Combinatorics and Calculus circa 200BC! 

That Ignite video led us to a TED Tuesday also by William Noel! Now I think I have to show a documentary about the Antikythera Device! There's a nice NOVA about Ancient Computers and here's a related youtube.

By the way, I also throw in Calculus Filks at random intervals whenever we cover a related topic:
Definition of Continuity

Definition of the Derivative

Chain Rule

Product Rule

Quotient Rule

L'Hopital's Rule

Position, Velocity, Acceleration

AntiDerivatives

More AntiDerivatives

Some Physics

Some BC Calculus

Even Outer Space

January YouTube Wednesdays!
Now we turn our attention to Nova and Fractals:


December YouTube Wednesdays!
December 9th was Grace Hopper's birthday and the Hour Of Code! So, we revisited Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace. We were also practicing preCalculus and Calculus Carols which are the best math filks ever.

Who was Ada?

Calculus Sleigh Ride!

Oh Calculus, Oh Calculus


November YouTube Wednesdays!
This month I covered Conic Sections and Planet Orbits in preCalculus class. So, Youtube Wednesday saw several Astronomers as Guest Speakers. We have several Guest Speakers and Documentaries though out the year.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Bill Nye


Phil Plait


Carl Sagan

October YouTube Wednesdays!
October is devoted to one of my all time inspirations: Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

60 Minutes!

Letterman!

Biographer!


September YouTube Wednesdays!
I started the year with the definition of filk:
 /filk/ n.,v. [from SF fandom, where a typo for `folk' was adopted as a new word] A popular or folk songwith lyrics revised or completely new lyrics and/or music, intended for humorous effect when read,and/or to be sung late at night at SF conventions. There is a flourishing subgenre of these called`computer filks', written by hackers and often containing rather sophisticated technical humor. 


Then I proceeded to show some Math Filks! I always start with Mathematicious which is a review of Regents Math. Then I introduce Tom Lehrer!

Regents Math Review!


Base 8 Arithmetic!


Periodic Table of Elements!


Research?



Well, that's all folks!

Sincerely,
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Monday, January 20, 2014

January YouTube Wednesdays!

January YouTube Wednesdays!
Now we turn our attention to PBS's Nova and Fractals:


December YouTube Wednesdays!
December 9th was Grace Hopper's birthday and the Hour Of Code! So, we revisited Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace. We were also practicing preCalculus and Calculus Carols which are the best math filks ever.

Who was Ada?

Calculus Sleigh Ride!

Oh Calculus, Oh Calculus


November YouTube Wednesdays!
This month I covered Conic Sections and Planet Orbits in preCalculus class. So, Youtube Wednesday saw several Astronomers as Guest Speakers. We have several Guest Speakers and Documentaries though out the year.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Bill Nye


Phil Plait


Carl Sagan

October YouTube Wednesdays!
October is devoted to one of my all time inspirations: Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

60 Minutes!

Letterman!

Biographer!


September YouTube Wednesdays!
I started the year with the definition of filk:
 /filk/ n.,v. [from SF fandom, where a typo for `folk' was adopted as a new word] A popular or folk songwith lyrics revised or completely new lyrics and/or music, intended for humorous effect when read,and/or to be sung late at night at SF conventions. There is a flourishing subgenre of these called`computer filks', written by hackers and often containing rather sophisticated technical humor. 


Then I proceeded to show some Math Filks! I always start with Mathematicious which is a review of Regents Math. Then I introduce Tom Lehrer!

Regents Math Review!


Base 8 Arithmetic!


Periodic Table of Elements!


Research?



Well, that's all folks!

Sincerely,
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Teaching Math 5H: UNIT 7 Calculus of Transcendental Functions! Quarter II Week 8&9


Teaching Math 5H
YouTube DropBox SagePub

Quarter II Weeks 8&9: 1/13-1/24
We started UNIT7: Transcendental Functions! We focused on the derivative of ln(x) and Logarithmic Differentiation. Next week and after Midterm Week, we'll revisit Applications of Derivatives, Applications of Integrals and Variable Separable Differential Equations involving e^x and ln(x).

UNIT 7 Calculus of Transcendental Functions!

Quarter II Week 7: 1/6-1/10
We finished UNIT6: Applications of the AntiDerivative! We focused on Volumes with Known Cross Sections, Arc Length and Surface Area.


Quarter II Week 6: 12/16-12/20
We continued UNIT6: Applications of the AntiDerivative! We focused on Volumes of Revolution with horizontal and vertical strips: Disk, Washer, Shell. Of course, Friday was Calculus Caroling Day!


Quarter II Weeks 4&5: 12/2-12/13
We started UNIT6: Applications of the AntiDerivative! We focused on the Betty Sue problem and the importance of adding a constant C. We talked about horizontal and vertical strips in our Riemann Statements for finding area between curves and Volumes of Revolution.

UNIT 6 Applications of AntiDerivatives:



Quarter II Week 3: 11/25-11/29
This week we continued our discussion of AntiDerivatives by introducing The Fundamental Theorem Parts I and II! We went over a MCQ Monday on Monday and did the Fundamental Theorem on Tuesday. This was a short week due to Thanksgiving, so we had GAMEDAY on Wednesday. Fun was had by all!

Since we were covering Indefinite Integrals this week, we had to do the Betty Sue FRQ and sing the song! 

Also, next week is December already, so we start practising our preCalculus and Calculus Carols!

Quarter II Week 2: 11/18-11/22
This week we continued our discussion of AntiDerivatives and Riemann Sums! We focused on Scientific Computing. IE: we wrote programs in TI89 BASIC demostrating the Numerical Methods for definite integration: LSUM, RSUM, MSUM, TRAP and SIMP!

Quarter II Week 1: 11/11-11/15
This week was all about AntiDerivatives and Riemann Sums! We talked about Right Riemann Sums as exact limits. Next week we'll have to right some TI89 code! We also started talking about solving Variable Separable Differential Equations.

UNIT 5 AntiDerivatives and Riemann Sums:



Quarter I Week 9: 11/4-11/8
We finally finished with UNIT 4: Application of Differentiation this week. We programmed Newton's Method in TI89-BASIC. We also covered related rates. Next week is all about AntiDerivatives and Reimann Sums!

Quarter I Week 8: 10/28-11/1
We're nearly finished with UNIT 4: Application of Differentiation this week. We programmed Newton's Method in TI89-BASIC. We also started related rates this week.

Quarter I Week 7: 10/21-10/25
We started UNIT 4: Application of Differentiation this week. We started talking about IVT, MVT, Min/Max and Optimization!

UNIT 4 Applications of Derivatives:



Quarter I Week 6: 10/14-10/18
This week we finished UNIT 3 with a discussion of the Chain Rule, Implicit Differentiation, Min/Max and Related Rates.

Quarter I Week 5: 10/07-10/11
Out sick.... However, I did start using DropBox, see above!

Quarter I Week 4: 9/30-10/04
We started UNIT 3 about Differentiation! We derived the Product and Quotient Rules. We did all 6 Trig Rules. We started talking about the Chain Rule.

UNIT 3 Differentiation Rules:



Quarter I Week 3: 9/23-9/27
We finished UNIT 2 with a test! Our last topic concerned the existence of the derivative. BTW, we start with UNIT 2 since UNIT 1 is just a review of PreCalculus. We did a bit of that in 106 and 107 on Conics and Polar Notation.

Quarter I Week 2: 9/16-9/20
We are almost finished with UNIT 2: Continuity and Differentiablility! We demostrated the Power Rule using the Definition of the Derivative as the limit of the Difference Quotient. We even started the Trig Rules!


Quarter I Week 1: 9/9-9/13
AP Calculus BC started with a preCalc review in the form of the topic of Conic Sections! This is a great topic to review Cartesian and Polar Coordinates, as well as some algebra, trig and TI89 usage!

UNIT 2 Limits and Derivatives:


Well, that's all folks!

Sincerely,
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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Teaching Math 4R: Finishing Chapter 5 Inverse Functions! Quarter II Week 8&9


Teaching Math 4R:
Chapter 5 Inverse Functions
YouTube DropBox SagePub

Quarter II Weeks 8&9: 1/13-1/24
We finished Chapter 5 all about Inverse Functions like Exponential and Logarithmic Functions. This week we worked on solving exponential and logarithmic equations as well as real world problems aka word problems and problem solving. 

Next week is the last week of the quarter and then we have midterm week. As I look over Quarter II, I find that we had precious little time for SAGE in class. We focused on the basics of SAGE and python during Quarter I. This Quarter, I still used SAGE, but I posted my SAGE WorkSheets on Edmodo after class for those who still wanted to follow along any new topic with SAGE.

Our in class midterm was delayed until the week after midterms. So, there won't be much new here until 2/10/14!

Quarter II Week 7: 1/6-1/10
We continued Chapter 5 all about Inverse Functions like Exponential and Logarithmic Functions. We focused on using exponents to cancel logs and visa versa in order to solve equations!


Quarter II Week 6: 12/16-12/20
We started Chapter 5 all about Inverse Functions like Exponential and Logarithmic Functions. Of course, Friday was PreCalculus Caroling Day!

SAGE Chapter 5 Inverses:

TI83 Chapter 5 Inverses:


Quarter II Weeks 4&5: 12/2-12/13
We finished Chapter 9 all about CIS(theta) and Vectors. We focused the last week or so on dot products and cross products (see below)!

Quarter II Week 3: 11/25-11/29
We started Chapter 9 all about Vectors. Actually, we started with CIS(theta) and Complex Arithmetic! We stuck to reference angles mostly and no tech was harmed in the making of our screencast (as yet). It was a short week due to Thanksgiving. So, we had Take Home Tuesday on CIS(theta) and GAMEDAY on Wednesday. Fun was had by all!

SAGE Chapter 9 Vectors:

TI83 Chapter 9 Vectors:


Quarter II Week 2: 11/18-11/22
We finished Chapter 10 all about Conics. This week we focused on Parametric graphs and Word Problems. Next we will cover CH9 Vectors starting with CIS(theta).

Quarter II Week 1: 11/11-11/15
We continued Chapter 10 all about Conics. This week we focused on Polar graphs. We talked about converting General Form Conics to Polar Form instead on Completing the Square in the case of rotated graphs! Next weeks now is about Parametrics. 

Quarter I Week 9: 11/4-11/8
We started Chapter 10 all about Conics. This week we focused on Completing The Square as a method to convert General Form conics into Standard Form Parabolas, Ellipses and Hyperbolas. We also focused on graphing Standard Form Conics without any tech! Next week is about Polar graphs and 2 weeks from now is about Parametrics. We're going to need TI83s or SAGE for that....

SAGE Chapter 10 Conics:


TI83 Chapter 10 Conics:



Quarter I Week 8: 10/28-11/1
We are finished with Chapter 11 about Matrices! We had a test on Friday. We are starting Chapter 10: Conics next week.

Quarter I Week 7: 10/21-10/25
We are almost finished with Chapter 11 about Matrices. This week focused on nonLinear Systems. Then we reviewed solving Linear Systems using Determinants or Matrix Inverses. We even had a preQuiz on Thursday and a Quiz on Friday on Linear Systems. Next week we cover the last topic in CH11: Linear Programming. The preTest this Thursday and Test this Friday will include all the nonLinear and Linear Systems as well as Linear Programming.

Quarter I Week 6: 10/14-10/18
We continued Chapter 11 about Matrices. This week focused on Matrix Arithmetic and Matrix Algebra. First we need to know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide before we can do the Algebra, aka Arithmetic backwards! BTW, we aren't really dividing, we're multiplying by the reciprocal. So, we used reciprocals to solve Matrix Equations.

Quarter I Week 5: 10/07-10/11
Out sick.... However, I did start using DropBox, see above!

Quarter I Week 4: 9/30-10/04
We started Chapter 11 about Matrices this week! We started by reviewing 2x2 Systems Algebraically and Graphically. Then we introduced Guass-Jordan Elimination using Augmented Matrices!

SAGE Chapter 11 Matrices:


TI83 Chapter 11 Matrices:



Quarter I Week 3: 9/23-9/27
We finished CH12 this week with a test! Our last topics included Proof By Induction and The Binomial Expansion Theorem!

Quarter I Week 2: 9/16-9/20
This week we covered Geometric Sequences and Induction! Included below you will find ScreenCasts based on TI83 and SAGE. I also have SmartNotes from the TI83 ScreenCasts as well as SAGE Worksheets for the SAGE ScreenCasts!

Quarter I Week 1: 9/9-9/30:
PreCalculus is all new this year:
(1) My preCalculus for Juniors classes started the school year with Chapter 12 this year! We start with Chapter 12 so we don't waste a lot of time reviewing topics from Chapters 1 and 2 which are about solving Linear Equations and Quadratics! So, when midyear is upon us, we can switch to Calculus without skipping important topics at the end of the preCalculus text. As such, we cover as much preCalculus as we can in the Fall Semester and as much AP Calculus AB material as we can in the Spring in preparation for Calculus next year!

(2) We are using a Computer Algebra System called SAGE instead of the TI83. The grand experiment this year is to see how well students learn the Math while learning to code in python at the same time!

(3) We will be learning a lot of python in class. You can learn some python code on your own too with this online, interactive textbook!

I actually have 2 different preCalculus classes. PreCalculus 4R and preCalculus 4H cover the same material and is comprised mostly of Juniors. The difference between these to groups is that 4R takes AP Calculus AB next year and 4H takes AP Calculus BC. Also, we cover material a little more in-depth for the 4H student and our tests may be a bit more challenging.

SAGE Chapter 12 Sequences:


TI83 Chapter 12 Sequences:



Well, that's all folks!

Sincerely,
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