Comb. + Conics Test

First off, I apologize for not getting this post up sooner; the Sun computers were having some trouble with "Java enabled cookies" or something along those lines and I was consequently unable to log onto Blogspot.

At any rate, it should not matter as all that happened during my scribe day was the Comb. + Conics test, which I hope everyone performed well on.

Remember to get your Accelerated Math Objectives done on time (50 by next friday last time I checked).

-I.B.

Work Class/Team Stuff Day

Due to the activities taking place today, attendance was optional. Therefore, we had a class to work on Accelerated Math and ask Mr. Maksymchuk questions. I found it to be a pretty productive class and I hope everyone else did too. Being the kind teacher that he is, Mr. Maksymchuk hasn't assigned us any homework over Spring Break. Recall though, that he assigned all of Exercise 23 yesterday and it would probably be a good thing to do some of the review questions of earlier exercises.

Here's a link to a slide show of some really cool math tricks that will make everyone think you're a genius! (As if they didn't already know that.)
http://www.slideshare.net/simonesu/amazing-math-trick

Good luck to Cramer's team in Team Stuff Day!

Have a great Spring Break everyone!

Bethany

Aloha, everyone. Today Mr. Max assigned Excercise #17, 1-12; and Excercise #18, 1-16. We get all of today's class to work on them and study for tomorrow's test.







He also told us that the test will be the same as the pre-test, but with different numbers. Since the whole pre-test idea seems to be liked by the whole class, we will continue to get pre-tests before each of our real bi-weekly tests.







One last thing-The latest due date for Accelerated Math is March 27th with 19 objectives.







Well good luck on the test tomorrow everyone!







Amy






from my.opera.com/offspring/blog/show.dml/359734

Pi Day!!!

HAPPY PI DAY EVERYONE!!!

picture via the Hope University math newsletter Off on a Tangent

In case you weren't aware, it is also Albert Einstein's birthday. Also, a proper Pi Day celbration should not begin until it is 1:59:26 on March 14 (π = 3.1415926... = 3rd month, 14th day on 1:59:26).

Today's lecture was short as Mr. Maksymchuk decided that we should use the period to work on the pre-test and catch up with accelerated math. Employing the sum and difference identities that were taught to us yesterday, Maksymchuk showed us how to derive sleek-and-sexy numerical values for trigonmetric functions with"strange" angles, among other things:

Here he derived an equivalent expression for sec(θ-π/4):

Continuing with the sleek-and-sexy values:

And finally we were given our assignment:

Mr. Maksymchuk finished this around 12:30 p.m., giving us about 40 minutes to work on our pre-test and finish up our accelerated math.

Anyway, since this post was so short I think I will provide my fellow classmates with a puzzle they may or may not choose to figure out:

You have 9 balls - all of which are indistinguishable by sight - and a balance scale. Eight of the balls weigh exactly the same while the last one is either heavier or lighter than the other eight. This differential in weight is so small that you can not tell by holding the "odd" ball in your hand whether or not it weighs any differently than the other eight; that is, you will have to employ the balance scale to figure this out. What is the smallest amount of weighings that you can do to find the odd-ball-out? How did you carry these weighings out?

Feel free to post your solutions.

-IB

Thursday and Friday, March 6 & 7

After yesterday's test, it would be worthwhile as the weekend approaches to delve a little deeper into some more practice work prior to ending up this bit on Transformations. My ideas go something like this:


1. Using either / or (possibly a combination of both) of the two sites linked below, you should go through some material that is current/relevant as we plan for the March 12 first Accelerated Math deadline, which is rapidly approaching...


WebCT/Blackboard Learning System site (use "demo"/"demo" as the username password combo to get in, and then navigate through these switches....) I've left a few screen shots here along the way to help you make sure that you're in the right place.

Specifically, Lesson 7 below in the Module 2 - Transformations needs your attention. Use your mouse to navigate through, screen by screen, and try to read for understanding, especially in the area of the examples provided. Be patient with the server, as I've heard that occasionally it can behave in an unpopular way.

Math 40S Online Web Course - Same set of ideas, just presented a different way. What I think you should spend some time on is the trig. function graphing stuff, for two reasons:



a) Accelerated Math is getting you to do this kind of material through at least a few objectives, so that's a good place to start.



b) You need some more practice on these kinds of transformations, prior to our next test...



Anyway, on the above site, from the front page, go directly into Trigonometry I, and then subsequently proceed on to Lessons 6, 7, 8, and 9. I would go through them all, as the assignment below definitely involves these kinds of skills....



2. Do some of the Accelerated Math itself. Help each other...talk to each other, teach each other. The only thing you've got to lose is a bit of ego if you make a mistake, but since you're used to watching me make mistakes in front of you all the time, you probably realize that errors help you learn with and from each other.

To steal Cramer's line, keep your stick on the ice. I really have no idea what that means (other than an extremely literal translation), but I thought that it sounded cool.

Hang in there...see you Monday.


RM

February 22nd

Well, I didn't make it to school today but through the wonder of the World Wide Web, I can still be the scribe. If anything important math-related happened to occur today, I would ask that one of my classmates would share it, either with a comment or a separate blog post. I found this picture on the Internet and thought it somewhat applicable.

http://talkingtails.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/pi-vs.-i.gif

I think Luke summarized yesterday's class fairly well so I don't need to add much to that. The one other thing I was going to mention is that Mr. Maksymchuk has handed out Accelerated Math sheets to us and he also gave us the scantron sheets. I think everyone understands how to use a scantron sheet, but just in case someone doesn't, I'll give a few pointers. Remember to use pencil only! A good idea is to write your name on it first, then fill in if it is a practice, exercise, or test, then fill in the numbers from the top of your question sheet. After that, it's a simple matter of filling in the answers from your sheet.

Something else I would like to point out is that Mr. Maksymchuk added a window (I think that's the proper blogger term to use) into another Grade 12 Precalc blog. I would advise everyone to check it out as it is an excellent blog (as is ours) and I think it has a lot of good stuff on it.

For the questions assigned from Exercises 5 and 6, I had to use the answer key for the first couple of questions because I either didn't know or had forgotten what "general solution" meant. Here's the dictionary.com definition:

general solution
–noun Mathematics.
a solution to a differential equation that contains arbitrary, unevaluated constants

Basically, it means the whole solution, not just the solution over a set interval. Or that is my understanding of it.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions about making my post better, please leave a comment and I'll try to get on it ASAP.

Bethany