The Light bulb Effect.....(Blog)

Hi..well this is my second blog for this semester. I hope you enjoy it. Well to start off I would just like to mention that the test definitely informed me as to how the rest of this semester will be. And that's okay. But seeing as this is about our second concept that's all I have to say about that.
I'm sure your wondering what my title "THE LIGHT BULB EFFECT" means. Well here we go. When Mr.K first introduced us to the concept of sin(x) can never equal more then one...I was completely confused! What do you mean sin(x) can never equal one!!! What are you talking about! So I went home that night and pondered...Then went through my notes....Then pondered some more.....And....I still didn't get it. By now I was extremely frustrated. Then yesterday Mr K. Brought up the sin(x) can never equal one again. This time going into much more detail and using anything to hand gestures to FULL BODY gestures to explain. Okay. Are you ready for this...Here comes the Lightbulb effect! I understood! I know! Crazy eh? The realization of this concept actually felt like a light was turned on in my head and I could finally clearly see what I was looking at! It was amazing ( and a huge relief). So there you are. In short my experience of the few split seconds after understanding has clicked in. I hope you enjoyed it and now are eager to indulge in the same feeling. Well Ta Ta for now and see you in class :)

Scribe Alive

So, it's my first time being the scribe. I can't promise it will be the ultimate greatest post ever. Buuuut, I'll do my best.

In todays class, Mr. K started by putting up questions on the board for us to graph.
1. y = sin x - 2
2. y = -2 cos x
3. y = 1/2 sin x + 2

Going over these questions, Mr. K pointed out where the sinusoidal axis is, and whether the wave of sin or cos will stretch out.

Mr. K later wrote on the board questions like these:
f(x) = sin x
g(x) = sin (x-45)
Where "-45" in the equation, tells you to shift the graph 45 degrees to the right. This is called a "faze shift" Remember guys, watch the sign.

EXAMPLE:















The topic of FM and AM radio came up. And Mr. K told us to raise our hands for people who listened to AM radio. And, I'm pretty sure no one raised their hands. Pretty funny. He told us, or most of the class answered what FM stood for, Frequency Modulation, and AM stood for Amplitude Modulation. But the whole point was that, the waves of sine and cosine look like radio waves.

Then the question popped up about the difference between these equations:
y = sin (x+90) & y = cos x
AND GUESS WHAT GUYS? They're the same thing!

EXAMPLE:

















y = sin (x+90) is shifted 90 degrees to the left, both of the waves end up in the same place. (Sorry if you they don't overlap each other equally, I needed to put them a little side-by-side so you know that there are two waves there, and not just one. But, they really do over lap each other perfectly.)

He gave us a worksheet to do, but we didn't work on it in class. And we are not allowed to use our calculators before doing the graph guys! Because, that's not the purpose. Do the graph first, and then check your answer on the calculator to see if what you came up with is right.

Mr. K put up notes on the board to put into our dictionaries.
To start off, was:

Standard Position: An angle is in "Standard Position" when its vertex is at the orgin (centre of a circle) and one arm lies along the positive x-axis.

EXAMPLE:















Related Angles: (A.K.A. reference angles) Given any angle in standard position, its related angle is the angle made by the terminal arm and the x-axis.

EXAMPLE:

















REMEMBER:
- All related angles are acute
- All quadrant I angles are their own related angles

And the last thing we wrote in our dictionaries was "Sinusoidal Graphs"

Standard Form:
f(x) = A sin B (-C) + D

Basic Graph:


















f(x) = A cos B (x-C) + D

Basic Graph:

















I know I copied most of this straight from our dictionaries, but it's here for people who missed class. Sorry once again if I left anything out. Tried my best!

SO... Eanie, Meanie, Miney, Mo, the next scribe is Jamilyn G. Have fun.

Why Two Answers?

We've been learning how to solve trigonometric equations. I've tried to emphasize that when we are given an equation like sin(x) = (1/2) we are trying to work backwards from the vertical length that sine represents to the angle from which it came. (i.e. we are finding the inverse sine A.K.A. the arcsine)

Check out this applet. The red line repersents the sine of an angle. The blue and green lines represent the two angles associated with a single value of the sine function. Click on the lines and play with it -- you'll see what I mean. Make sure the [degrees] button is seleted in the top right corner of the applet window. You can also look at the cosine and tangent functions by clicking on the buttons you'll find there. We wont really be studying the tangent function until Pre-Cal 40S but there's nothing wrong with getting a head start. You can also see what happens when you click the [radians] button. ;-)

Heather can draw the pictures ... can you? ;-)

My First Time As Scribe

Okay, I'm not really good at explaining things but I hope all of you will get something out of this.

So today at the beginning of class, we got our quadratic functions test back and corrected the questions people had most problems with. Then we started working with different equations and graphs for sin(x) in our graphing calculators. He talked about the sinusoidal axis and the affect it has on the graph.

For example:

y = sin(x) + 1

+1 would be the sinusoidal axis and would make the sine wave rise +1 units.

Another thing he talked about was when you plug in 2nd sin (1.5) in the calculator it won't work because the highest number you could put in would be 1(90 degrees). There is no such angle for 2nd sine (1.5).

sine input angle - output verticle length
2nd sine input verticle length - output angle

The he told us to graph the equation y = 3 sin x + 2. The x-intercepts would remain the same for the graph as it would for y = sin x but the y - coordinates would be tripled because you'd be miltiplying it with the original equation. Also don't forget to raise it two units because of the sinusoidal axis.

Also remember what Mr. K told us in class today so you don't lose marks. Always label your x-axis and your y-axis, scale your graphs, and add the arrowheads.

So hopefully you all could get what I'm saying here and so the next scribe will be ...rannell.

Scribe Time

Im not really good with words, because I'm better explaining with pictures, so it might seem like there's so much to read, but really its just the pictures taking up the space.

Well in today's class, we started off with Mr. Kuropatwa giving us a worksheet. It was questions on what we learned on the previous class. Examples of that, would be determining which values of Sin x, Cos x and Tan x is in which quadrant. If...












Cos x is positive in quadrants 1 and 4.
Tan x is negative in quadrants 2 and 4.
So for the above question to make it true, it only lies in quadrant 4.

Another question was finding the related angles. First thing you would do, is find the related angle, which is the smallest angle, it makes with the x-axis. Then you would find, what quadrant it lives in.
Example: Finding the related angle for 120.













Another type of question we did, was finding Cos x and Sin x from a point on a graph.
Example: Find Cos x and Sin x with the point (6,8)
First thing you would do is plot the point.
Then drop down a vertical line perpendicular to the x-axis.
Then find c using Pythagorous.


















You know that Cos x=Adj/hyp, and Sin x=opp/hyp
So the answer for this question would be:
Cos x=6/10, which is reduced to 3/5
Sin x=8/10, which is reduced to 4/5

Then he gave us questions on the board, that had to do with solving for x. It started off with a couple of easy ones. Then he put harder ones, that had to do with cos and sin. I never knew that was even possible, but yeah anyways heres an example:
2 Cos x - 4 = 5 Cos x - 6
First you would, get cos x by itself





















Then you would find on your calculator, that x = 48.
BUT!!! Since Cos x is positive it can be in quadrant 1 and 4

To find the value in quadrant 4, you would minus 48 from 360 to get 312.

So that was about it for this class. Even 2 minutes to spare. I guess it was okay, it wasn't all that hard. If I left anything out, sorry!!!=s
Anyways the next scribe is JessiccaI.

Scribes Sine

Hello everyone! What a class. I'm speechless and somewhat confused, but i gotta say something. So, at the beginning of the class Mr. Kuropatwa put two questions on the board that would become the basis for the whole class. They were y = sin x and y = cos x. Then we had to chart and graph those equations. We then ended up with a pattern with the charts. 0 to 90 degrees had the same values as 90 to 180 degrees just in reverse order. Then it just repeats itself but in the negatives from 180 to 360 degrees and then the whole shindig repeats. When this is graphed it curves up from the x axis, back down, further down and then back up to the x axis. This is what a sine wave sort of looks like:

Then Mr. Kuropatwa went on to talk about the cosine wave. This is basically the sine wave shifted over. Then we come to the part I don't really know how to explain so help me if I'm wrong. The related angles..... So Mr. Kuropatwa proceeded to show us some "Wicked Mental Math" where he said the sine of thirty degrees is one half, the sign of onehundred fifty degrees is one half, the sign of two hundred ten is negative one half and finally the sign of three hundred thirty is negative one half. After we dismissed that he was a human calculator we went on to fine the reason this was like this. After a lot of guessing and forgetting of C.A.S.T. he decided to grace us with the knowledge on how he came to his conclusions of the set of negative and positive halves. We thought back to grade 9 and SOHCAHTOA. He described a right angle triangle with one for the opposite side and two for the hypotnuse.

Sorry not very good in the paint program. Well that's the general look of it. So sine is opposite over hypotnuse, and that is one over two, so one half. Flip that image over to the other side in your minds eye. The numbers haven't changed, it's still the same triangle so 150 degrees is equal to 30 degrees. Then in your minds eye once more flip it down. Now one value does change, the y coordinate. So it becomes negative, and the same if you flip it to the other side of the y axis. Then we moved onto cosine. If we do all this to cosine we find that all the triangles to the left of the y axis are positive and vice versa. Lastly we found out that tangeant is actually sine of theta over cosine of theta (just a little tidbit out of context here; tangeant means touching in one point). But it all ends up fine in the end because our rule of opposite over adjacent is the equivalent of that sine of theta over cosine of theta just in simpler terms.

Well I hope that makes some sense. The next scribe is Jacky S.

Sticks and Shadows

Follow this link to answer the question: "What is Trigonometry?" You'll also find out what sticks and shadows have to do with trigonometry.

Read through the site pages starting with Sticks and Shadows (Part 1) through to sine and cosine Do "the Wave". Each page has a really cool java applet to help you visualize and understand what we were talking about in class today. You can go farther if you like as we'll be covering that material eventually; if not in this class then in Pre-Cal 40S. ;-)

Have fun with it!

Our Readership

I thought you might be interested to know about our readership. Our blog is being read by people all over the world. The graphic below shows where the last 82 visitors to our site have come from. Of course, this is constantly changing as more and more different people pop in to see what we're doing. While some of them visit only once a number of them do keep coming back. (The "unlisted" reader is from Brazil.) People are interested in what you have to say and what you are learning.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have an audience. It's worth your while to make a good impression by making sure your spelling and grammar are correct when you post. ;-)

Thought You'd Like To Know ....

Miss Nicholson, a student teacher from U. of Winnipeg, dropped into our blog tonight and left Rosel a comment here. I thought you might like to know what she wrote ....

---

Hi!

This is Miss Nicholson, the student-teacher who sat in on your class today. Hopefully you're all in bed already since it's beneficial to get a good night's sleep before a test, but I just wanted to say that I enjoyed observing the ways in which you worked together in class today and am really impressed with how you are using this blog. I'm getting a lot of great ideas to use when I will be a teacher.

On that note I wanted to encourage you all in your studies by telling you what my experience has been like being back in high school observing courses that I took several years ago. When topics come up that I struggled through in school, even though it's years later, I start feeling a little anxious too. Then I watch the teacher work through the problem or I work it through myself which is when I immediately realize that I really did learn it and it's actually not as difficult as I always imagined it to be. It's pretty exciting!

So, even though the math seems to be getting harder and harder, you're all acquiring more and more skills and tools to get that boulder up the hill (ahh, sisyphus). Just keep on using them, and by the time your exam rolls around, you'll wonder how you ever struggled through such simple questions. :)

Good luck!

MY BLOG!!!

Well today in class we started off with going through our review hand out for our test tomorrow and everyone seemed to have trouble on question 6, which was a relief since I found out I wasn’t alone lol, but after Mr. K went through the question with us, it helped me understand how to do the question and also reminded me that I had to use –b/2a which totally helped me on our pre-test afterwards, especially when I got to the last question and it looked kind of identical to the one on the review. Overall though the pre-test went great for me and also for my group you guys were awesome…afterwards Mr. K went through it with us and we got to see if we made any mistakes or not, and that’s where class ended. But So far in this course I’ve been doing pretty good, I’ve been understanding everything and I’ve also been enjoying to go to class and learning something new each day, such as how a quadratic function could look prime but still have roots, and how certain questions can lead you to getting only one root and have the other one rejected, because of how the question was stated.

But before i end this i just want to say thanks to all my classmates for their great blogs and participation, because you guys are totally making pre-cal easier for me with your posts, and don’t forget we have a test tomorrow so GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Jonathon's post

Hey everyone this is my blog.

I think we have a great class this year, I have never bin in a class with such involvment from all of my classmate's. I know most of u dont know this but i went to Tec voc last year. It was an alright school but it wasnt any were near as challenging as Daniel Mc and there wasnt even a Quater of the class participation.I think this is bloging is great it makes it easier and alot interesting. I was struggeling in the first week of class and I didnt get much of what Mr. Kuropatwa was teaching us and I wasn't readying the bolgs. But after reading everyones blog I think I'm starting to understand everything alot better and I think I'm getting a handle on grade 11 pre-cal.
So I'd like to finish my blog by thanking everyony in our class for your blogs and I want you all to know they helped me alot. And Id aslo like to thank Mr. Kuropatwa for being a great teacher, your the best math teacher I've ever had and I think everyone will argee with me.

Thanks.

Kasia's post...

Hey..well I've never written a blog before but from looking at the few posted I think I have the general idea. Well this year in my opinion is actually much easier then my grade ten pre-cal class. It may be that things have finnally started to settle in or something but I find myself understanding more and more. Its actually a great feeling. Sure the homework is a bit tough but with the daily reminders and reviews its going ok. :)...well we had the pre-test today..how can you forget eh, and that was tough but still reasonable in my mind. I just will have to study alittle harder tonight I guess. I love the class because its challenging and there are people around me who are there for the challange as well. Not just there to be there type people. Its a real motivation. Well I guess thats it, but I hope you guys feel the same way too. :D So Ciao and good luck and see you all tomorrow!
Kasia
[SCROLL DOWN FOR KASIA'S SCRIBE POST]

blah blah blog

From the Notebook of A Scribe......

Hey everyone on this blog, Kasia was having difficulties with this post, so I (Aichelle) told Kasia to e-mail it to me and I would help her out by posting this on to here because that's what fellow classmates do, they help eachother!!! :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well I guess the beginning is a good place to start with this so.....today we started off with reviewing Question #6 off the Review sheet. h(t)=-5t^2+6t+3. Mr. K. Then broke it down using the equation -b/2a to find the x-coordinate.

-b/2a = -6/2(-5)
= -6/-10
= 3/5

Btw....the plus three on the end is a given answer. The plus three tells us that the divingboard is three meters above the water already. He then Broke the original equation { h(t)=-5t^2+6t+3 for those of us who may have forgotten} by plugging the x-coordinate into the place of t.

h(3/5)= -5(3/5)^2 + 6(3/5) +3/1
= -5(9/25) + 18/5 + 15/5
= -9/5 + 10/5 + 15/5
= 24/5

The answer to the equation giving us the y-coordinate and the Maximum value. Next we broke it down further to find the roots of the equation.

0= -5t^2 + 6t +3
0= -5[t^2 - 6/5t + (-3/5)^2 - (-3/5)^2] + 3
0= -5[(t-3/5)^2-9/25]+3
0= -5 (t-3/5)^2 + 9/5 + 15/5
0= -5 (t-3/5)^2 + 24/5
5(t-3/5)^2=24/5
(t-3/5)^2=24/25
t - 3/5= (+/-)√24/5
t=(3 (+/ -)√24)/5
t= 3 + √24/5 t= 3 - √24/5
---------------- REJECT

You find the roots at t=3+/- square root of 24 (over) 5. BUT!!!!!!!!! DON'T FORGET THIS! ***The Root: t=3-square root of 24(over) 5, is not needed due to the context of this problem. So beside that root you would put REJECT! PLZ DON'T FORGET! YOU WILL NEEDLESSY LOSE MARKS!
Also, Mr. K made it quite clear today that you should use the "tools" from your "tool box" appropiatletly. As he said.."There are many ways to skin a cat......but please don't for the sake of the cat" In other words. Don't go and do a whole algebraic expression if all you need to do is -b/2a.
While we were going over this lesson, Mr.K mentioned that we need to learn to ask questions. SO don't be timid and just shrug it off because most likely your not the only one sitting there pondering a certain part of the problem. SO RAISE YOUR HAND AND ASK! The worst that can happen is you learn something new....
Once that was over we went through our pre-test....was that an eye opener! The exercises have definitly paid off there. Anywho, he gave us twenty minutes to do it and then split us into groups. We then went over the test in our groups and jotted down what we came to think of as the right answers to all the questions on the test and handed that in with all our names on one sheet. With that done Mr. K quickly went over the pre-test with us and wished us luck.
Now before I do the same I would like to add for the sake of all of us the little rules of which we all detest!

1. always write y, 0, etc. before all of your equation lines.
2. the domain is always (-infinity, infinty) IT NEVER CHANGES!
3. use pencil. ITS MATH PEOPLE!
4. Don't forget the square bracket/round bracket rule. Square means its included. Round means its up to but can not be.
5. always name the x and y axis and finish the line with arrows.
6. The answer to the axis of symmetry always begins with x=!
7. Always go to three decimal points unles told other wise.

Well thats it for me i guess...what can I say..Its been fun! Good Luck tomorrow.

Last but not least the scribe for tomorrow (Monday) is GRAEME.

Dreadful Test Blog

Today's class was pretty good. Reviewed a lot before the test, like finding the roots of a parabola from general form, then from that finding the vertex. Basically we had a little general form review on finding roots, vertex, y-intercept and such. Understanding the general form is getting a lot more clearer to me making me not rely so much on the standard form anymore to find vertexs and such. The most difficult thing for me to understand was getting information out of the general form, becuase I was used to just reading the standard form that I just wanted everything to be in standard for. But as we worked on the general form more often it became easier for me to understand it, and how to find characteristics of a parabola using both forms.

BTW Thanks Richard for the Blogger 101 =D, it helps knowing that people in class are looking out for one another when we're stuck.

My Very First Blog

Hi everyone! This blogging this is all quite new to me but I'll give it a try.

We covered a lot in the fast few classes. Today we took up the questions on the review that people had most trouble with. For me, I had difficulty with them to. After we reviewed the review, we wrote a pre-test. Mr. K gave us twenty minutes to complete it. After, we were put into a group of four to discuss our answers. We had to hand in one paper with all the corrections.

I definitely agree that as the years pass by, math becomes harder and harder. I think I've done pretty well for the past few weeks. Some of the material we've covered is a bit tough but by doing the homework and examples in class, I can understand it more easily. I have to say that I'm doing much better in getting the homework completed on time unlike last year (shame on me). The math journal really comes in handy to recall what we have studied although all the letters instead of numbers can get sooooooo confusing at times.

Something I've learned that I found "cool" was how you could find so much information just by one equation.
eg. the vertex of the parabola, axis of symmetry, etc.

One thing I had difficulty with was completing the square. I couldn't understand how to do it but with the help of Mr. K, I finally understood it. I felt like the weight was lifted off of my shoulders.

Well, this wraps it up for my blog. I can't believe the test is tomorrow. I wish you all the best of luck. It looks like the weight has been added on my shoulders again.

My First Blog!

This is my first time putting up a blog, so sorry if it sounds boring or something.

Okay, so tomorrow we have a test in quadratic functions and I think I really improved from the first day we started this unit. At first I was confused about what a quadratic function was but when I kept doing the sheets it started to make sense more and more. I'm kinda confused if this was just a few days ago or last week or something but when we were learning how to complete the square in class I thought I understood what Mr. Kuropatwa was doing. Then when I was doing some of the questions on the sheets I was so frusturated that I had no idea what it meant. When I was watching Mr. K correct the questions and writing down the notes I kept looking over them a lot to see how he came up with the solutions on completing the square and finding the roots. That was when he was correcting one of the questions on the review todayand on the pre-test he gave before class ended. Anyway hopefully I'll do well on this test but knowing me and tests I'm going to blank out.

Hi everone thanks to Richard i now know how to do this. Thank you very much! I just wanted to let you guys know that i have learned a lot so far in this class and i hope to learn more and more everyday. I see that we have a test tomorrow so good luck to all. Another thing that i would like to say is that this site is awsome. All of you guys make it so interesting. Well im going to go study for the test now so see you guys tomorrow in class.

Robert

myy blog =)

Today's pre-test was weiiirrrddd..... it's just I totally blanked out for the first 5 minutes then for the rest i was rushing, I thought I was the only who didn't understand it =(... But I wasn't! And in my group we all helped each other out and Mr. K explained everything and I'm starting to get it. When someone told me pre-cal30s was hard I didn't believe it until now! But you guys are making it easier, Mr. K wasn't kidding these blogs are preeeettttyyyyyyyyyyyyyy gooooodd and a HUGE help to everyone, especially me! SO THANK YOU!

Test tomorrow hope everyone is studying and is ready. My tip is relax... we've gone over every single bit of detail in class... so don't worry your ready!! Oh and before I forget... though we're trying to remember all those equations and parabolas don't forget about checking over the simple stuff like multiplying and adding/subtracting.

OH WAIT! lol.... don't forget to check over your test in the end. TRUST ME! So many times in the past i didn't check over my test and i lost a mark because of something... alright that's all =) good luck everyone....

blogging before the test...

Okay, um.. i just finished reading some posts and i agree with some of them... pre-cal this year is harder than last year. but just remember sisyphus. just like what Rannell said in her post. =)

hmmm,

So far, i think the class is going
great! It's like.. WOW. im surrounded with super bright people. Just by reading their blogs you can already tell how bright they are. *thumbs up*

hmm... what else to write in here.. oh!a reminder again that....











In a problem solving context...the left side of the graph does not exists. But mathematically it does.

for instance:

if a ball was thrown from a top of a building and then lands. If you graph it in a distance-time graph it should look something like the graph shown above.

if you're wondering why the left side of the graph does not exists in that graph, its because we cant have negative time, we can't go back in time.

okay, thats it for now.

Test tomorrow... GOOD LUCK !

-kat ^_^

PreCal Calls!

So, I was reading a few posts on the site made by our fellow students. But yah, PreCal this year is way harder than last year. But heeeey, I guess we just got to put our minds and stuff into it. Like... that guy, that Mr. K always tells us about. I'm not going to try to spell the name, cuz I know I'll spell it wrong. Haha. So we learned a whole bunch of new stuff today, about the general form, and I guess it does look more confusing with the letters and the numbers, but once you get the hang of it. Then it's pretty good. But yes, looking forward to learning more. So guys, just remember that guy, from Mr. K's story. :) Sorry if this post was pretty short.

BLOGGERS 'R 'US

For you guys who really need help Blogging or Posting or Just doing Whatever around here. Here's some help.

Part 0: Getting On Blogger

For most of us who already made an Account. You already know. For the rest of us... Sigh/// You had to ask... No I asked. Hahaha. We'll first go here. Blogger Home If you didn't sign up. Then sign up. Hahaha. If you already did... Then look for the Sign in Box and sign in with the account you made.

Part 1: Editing Your Profile.

There are two ways to find the link to edit your profile. #1 is at the Dashboard. There's a link that says Edit your profile on the Right Side. #2 is if your viewing your profile. There's a link to edit your profile on the Left Side. Remember you can only edit your profile if your signed in. Duh. Hahaha. Well When you Click on those links you end up in the Edit Profile Page. You can change allot of stuff. Including your screen name for you guys who still need to edit your screen name. Esp. the Pre Cal 20S Guys. Once your done. Look for the Save Profile button and save.

Part 2: Making a Blog.

If you really wanna make a blog. I mean really... Like if your CRAZY ABOUT BLOGGING!!! Go to the Dashboard. Click on Create a blog. Make a title. Make an address. Write the silly little letters. Choose a template and I think your done. Blog made.

Part 3: Posting on a Blog.

Everyone needs help on this one right. Ya I know. A blog by my definition is a series of collective thoughts in your mind that you just wanna get out in the world weather it's funny, sad, happy or mad or something else that doesn't fit on any of those categories. Or. For everyone else out there. Something You do when you got nothing to do. But I like the first Definition better. Don't you. Well... To post on Blogger. Go to The Dashboard. It always starts with the Dashboard. Then go to. New Post. You should automatically be on the create a post page. Then you type a title. YES TITLES are IMPORTANT!!! They Define the Blog. Weather it's a SCRIBE Post or Just a Random thing that you wanna post. Titles are important. Because it makes things allot easier. Now the content. In the Big Rectangle with the white space is where you write your blog. I already stated that it can be funny, sad... I am not gonna go through that again.... Well anyways... After you write whatever. Click on Publish Post. And you don't like what you wrote. Go click on Save as draft. Which means you can still edit the post whenever you like but it will not be shown on the blog. Did I cover everything... Um Ya.

Part 4: Editing a Post.

Now this is fun. Hahaha. Thought I was finished eh? Of course not. Muhahaha. Too bad. Well to Edit a post that you posted. YES YOU cause only you can prevent... I mean. Edit your own posts. Cause Only you can sign in to your blogger account. Does that make sense... Whatever. So you click on Edit Posts. Find your post. And then. Click on Edit. Easy as that. Then you edit your post and click on Publish Post again. But you don't want that post to go back up you can again go to Save as Draft.

Part 5: Deleting a Post.

Quick and Simple. Your Work. Your Post. Only You can Delete your posts. Dashboard... Arg... Ok. Just find edit posts and look for the delete thing and that's that. Ok that was weak.

Part 6: Leaving a comment.

Comments are cool. Of course they are. They provide insight to everything we do on a blog. That's why I try to leave a comment in every post that comes up. They help writers become better writers. Etc. It's really a complicated process. Don't just write Good Job or Cool Post like I've been doing. I'm really getting lazy. Provide comments that leave a Blogger something to think about or improve. They could even edit their post just because of one comment. So remember this. Comment's are good.

Part 7. Yes. Other Stuff...

This stuff is practically random. Or just some stuff to do while editing a post. But it deserves it's own mention. Um. To add an image click on the add image button on the post. To add a link click on the add a link button on the post. To edit your HTML code click on the edit HTML tag. It's really useful for all of your HTML users out there. You can change the colours of your text on the colour text button. Also. You can also chang the size of the text. The Font. Bold, Italic. Did I miss anything? Oh ya. To change where your post is on the blog. Yes this is important. Change the time and date. It really works. Really.

Hey. Person reading my blog. Yes you. Am I missing anything? Well Leave a comment then. Hahaha. Well that's the end of that. If you need extra help. Call my cell. Hahahahahahahaha. Later.

Postage

<---INSANE or what? So, today's class was fun. We started by writing in our Math Dictionaries which gets confusing sometimes because we have to switch pens/pencils all the time but nonetheless it's all good because you learn at the same time. Then in the middle of that some people had to get their pictures taken so a few people left and we continued with the notes which was good. When they came back other people approximately half of the class had to leave to get their pictures taken. So while they were gone we got to ask Mr. Kuropatwa questions about quadratics or any questions about the review. So we did question number one and I understood it better because he explained it more and it helped all of us in the room...I think. Then we did question two but we used one of the equations from question one. I was so relieved that we did that question because I had no idea how to do and I am so thankful right now. So when I did question number two today on the review at home I actually got it...well the first two equations in question two..WOW haha!
I think my progress in this class is good so far. There's a lot of homework that gets difficult and frustrating especially if I don't understand what is right in front of me. That's why I am so glad that Mr. Kuropatwa goes over some of the questions that frustrates me, along with other fellow classmates. I think everyone in this class will do well as long as they do their homework, review their notes and asks questions.
Something I learned in this class that I thought was cool was completing the square because I've never seen it before and I just thought it was awesome how it worked out. Watching the videos helped a lot too .
Well everybody have fun posting/blogging and good luck on your test! I love colours!=);)

Posting up for the first time!

Hey, evryone. Once again I'm blogging. Well I don't know about the rest of the class, but I learned a lot in today's class. Last night I tried to do the test review and I ended up a very frustrated person. There was about four or five questions in Standard form where the second term was odd. I tried to work it out by myself and had to find half of 7 squared. The final answer didn't look right, but continued to find the roots. I ended up with the square root of a negative decimal number! That's when I got confused. So I tried Excercise 7. There was a couple of those weird word problems with one increase causing a decrease of another variable.
So today when Mr. K. showed us how to do both types of problems, I was very relieved.

Now, so far in this S3 Pre-Cal course, I have understood almost all of the material covered. Also, I've been able to complete the homework without trouble (except for last night). I think that the blog is a great idea of communicating and helping out of school hours.

I hope everyone does well on the up-coming test. Good Luck!

P.S. The pic up top I found on google. It has many parabolas in it. I thought it looked interesting

Pre-cal Time!

My first time making a post, it might sound a little out of there..so yeah..here I go...
What I think of Pre-cal 30S? Well I know it's a lot more harder then last year. So many new things yet to be learned and I'm still kind of struggling with the ones being taught now. For instance, in today's class with the whole completing the square in gerneral form. It looks really complicated. But I guess with all the letters in there, instead of numbers, is making it hard to understand. What I found to be very cool in this class, was actually learning how to use a graphing calculator. Haha..yeah I've always thought it was so hard to use one because of all the buttons and the big screen kind of scared me. But yeah now that i've actually got "some" knowledge into using one. It's not all that bad. So far, this class has been tough, but I know by reading my notes every night and doing a couple of practice questions, I can pass it...hopefully!

Need Some Notes?

Hello everyone. If you ever had missed any notes because of being away from class or just want some crisp clean looking notes to study from, I have them typed up with diagrams, colors, formulas, the whole shabang. The formulas have a space in between each character exept when those characters are being divided. In that case I will have the numerator and the denominators spaceless.
E.g. 8b²+2/34c + 2 , the + 2 is not part of the denominator.
If there is any errors of any kind please mention them so i can fix the problem, and any suggestions are welcome. Richard guided me through creating the links, so thanks to him. Hope this helps all of you, I'll be updating this periodically so eventually there will be a full set.

WARNING: IF YOU JUST PRINT THE NOTES AND DO NOT READ THEM YOU WILL GET NO BENEFIT OUT OF THEM. SO USE THESE WISELY AND READ THEM OVER.



Notes Set 1: Quadratic Functions


Notes Set 2:How to Write Interval Notation and Set Builder Notation


Notes Set 3:The Standard Form for the Equation of a Parabola


Notes Set 4: The Factored Form of a Parabola


Notes Set 5: The General Form for the Equation of a Parabola


Notes Set 6: Completing the Square


Notes Set 7: Completing the Square On the General Form

(On my computer these open rather funny. It opens up a window that asks for a username and password, if you get this just x it out and it gives you the page anyway.)

Life in PreCal

Today in class we went over the general form for the equation of a parabola and also the steps in completing the square.
So far in precal30s, I think i'm doing alright. I know I dont understand a lot of the things he says but usually I get what he's doing after i've done it many times myself. I have been trying the homework, and it does seem harder than I expected it to be, having to do homework everynight to actually understand what he goes over in class. It's pretty crazy learning about parabolas because there's alot of information you have to know about each little different part of the equation/function. Just like today in class, while writing all of different parts of the equation we also learned that there are many different ways to find the x-coordinate in the vertex, the roots, the y-intercept, etc. What really got me confused was when I was doing the review sheet and having to deal with sqaureroots and fractions because I stupidly used decimals. I had to go to my brother for help. Then when he finally showed me how to do it, it made so much more sense. And the other questions seemed kind of easier to do but still pretty hard to understand that quick. I guess I just need to keep doing questions to understand it perfectly before the big test!

Scribe's Scribbles

Hello People,
Well the time has come for me to be the scribe, and I'm not sure how good it will be so just bear with me.

Class started off with a couple of people coming in late because of pictures and having to quickly copy some Math Dictionary notes. These notes took a while and included:
First of all we quickly defined the General Form of a parabola (x^2+4x-7) and the roles of each parameter (a, b, and c).

a- tells the width and direction of the opening of the parabola.
b- creates an oblique translation (a translation of a line that is neither parallel nor perpindicular)
c- tells the coordinbates of the y-intercept (0,c) or y=c

This completed the definitions of the three main foms of a parabola (General, Standard, and Factored).

Converting Standard to General to Factored:

f(x)=2(x-2)^2 --> y=2x^2-8x+8 --> y=(2x-4)(x-2)

After this we put into our dictionaries a detailed explanation on completing the square. It was pretty much the same as before except in writing and examples which will probably help some people get ready for the test.

Next Mr. K told us we was going to show us a 'Magic' formula, even though he said he didn't like to show us 'magic'. So into our journals went this 'magic' formula, which I might add turned out to be a set of aggrevating algebra. A very long complicated formula that shows how to complete the square on the General Form. (It's very long and complicated so I won't write the whole thing out but here's how it ended:

y=a(x+b/2a)^2+(-b^2+4ac)/4a

Now, there's no way that we can remeber that formula when it comes to a test, but he did teach us a way of figuring out the vertex from General Form. This is how:

y=2x^2-8x+8 (general form)
to find vertex:
h=-b/2a
h=-(-8)/2(2)
h=8/4
h=2 ---> y=2x^2-8x+8
y=2(2)^2-8(2)+8
y=8-16+8
y=16

vertex: (2,16)

So then a couple of people left to get their pictures taken so Mr. K just did a brief 'synopsis' (summary) of the 'tools' in our 'tool boxes'; great analogy Mr. K. So these are the notes I took:

Standard Form
-says where the vertex is and the axis of symmetry
-tells the width and direction of opening
-does not tell the roots
-must balance equation to get roots

General Form
-width and direction of opening
-y-intercept
-algebra = vertex
-h=-b/2a
-factor for roots, or complete square.

Factored Form
-roots
-axis of symmetry
-vertex

Following the 'synopsis' we just figured out a couple of problems from the review. e.g. Standard Form expressions with an odd second term.

JUST REMEMBER: Sometimes DECIMALS are DELIGHTFUL, but Most of the Time FRACTIONS are FRIENDLY

In Other Words: BE EXACT and DONT ROUND to DECIMALS!


Finally Mr. K. taught us how to do those weird problems where one variable goes up and the other goes down.

All I can tell you there is:

state the problem in words, find your variable ( f(variable) ) then create you equation e.g. f(x)=(A + x)(B + x)

Well then the bell rang and class was over just like my post.




Next Scribe is...

...Kasia W.

sry Kasia.

Test Update - More Practice!

Our test day has been moved to Friday due to the time we lost to picture taking today.

Here are some more online quizzes you can do to get ready for Friday:

• Standard Form (5 questions)


• Factored Form (5 questions)


• Finding Roots (5 questions)


• Complete The Square (5 questions)


• General Review (explanations and solved examples)

Don't forget to get your post up before test day as described in my post Blogging on Blogging. Your "scribe" post doesn't count for this mark.

Also, if you haven't read this yet, make certain that you do before getting your post up. ;-)

Robert's Scribe

Robert is having computer problems. He emailed me his "scribe" report. Here it is:

---

Hello people this is Robert. Well we started off the class by doing two review questions on finding the roots. These were the examples given:

^ ----> means "to the power of"

f(x) = x^2 + 2x - 4 f(x) = x^2 + 2x + 1 - 1 - 4 y = (x + 1)^2 - 5 0 = (x + 1)^2 - 5 5 = (x + 1)^2 +/- sqr root of 5 = x + 1 -1 +/- sqr root of 5 = x

f(x) = -x^2 + 4 x - 7 y = -(x^2 - 4x + 4 - 4) - 7 y = -[(x - 2)^2 - 4] - 7 y = -(x - 2)^2 + 4 - 7 y = -(x - 2)^2 - 3 0 = -(x - 2)^2 - 3 No Roots

Then after those question we then did two problems in class. The first type of problem dealt with a farmer or someone that needed to make a rectangular area with a certain amount of fencing using one side of something like a barn for example. We then had to find the dimensions that would yield the maximum area. One thing that Mr. Kuropatwa really made clear was that when finding the answer in these problems always write the original equation. For example Area = ( Length ) ( width ). The second problem had us use a equation to find the vertex and x-intercepts.

Following all of the questions and problems Mr. Kuropatwa gave us a review and told us that if we did the review and got it all right we would ace the test. Finally he told us that tomorrow we would have a pre-test followed by a test the next day. Tomorrows scribe is...Craig K.

Getting Ready for the Test

Here is a good review of the material we've covered so far. Everything is clearly explained with several examples all of which have detailed solutions. About a third of the way down the page you'll find an applet that you can play with and see the effect it has on the equation of the parabola. The last example includes a carefully explained solution to the area problem we were discussing in class today.

Here are some online quizzes you can also try to get ready for Thursday:

• Graphs and Equations (5 questions)


• More Graphs & Equations (5 questions)


• Graphs and Equatins Again (5 questions)


• All About Parabolas (5 questions)


• More About Parabolas (5 questions)

Those last two you can take over and over again. The questions will keep changing!

Tomorrow we'll talk more about problem solving and try to get a pre-test in. ;-)

Quadratics at the Movies!

Here is another video that covers some of the material we've been studying:

• Sketching the graph of a quadratic function using transformations
    (10 min. 59 sec.)

If you have trouble understanding anything: "Pause ... Rewind ... Repeat ..." until it makes sense. ;-)

I`m not very good at this but ill try my best.
uhm,okay ...
So we started class by talking about the on-going project. It`s about making that class character or something that will have a problem and we have to use math to solve it. OR picking any topic that we've learned and make a video about it.

And we learned more about "Completing the Squares". If a is > than one then you can factor it out first. For example:

y=2x²-12x+13
=2(x²-6x+9-9)+13
=2[(x-3)²-9]+13
=2(x-3)²-18+13
=2(x-3)²-5

the 2 is outside the bracket because it is more than 1. and if you`re wondering how we got what's inside the round bracket... this is how,first you take half of the middle term then you square it. (x²-6x+9) = (x-3)². After that we distibute 2 to whatevers inside the square bracket and thats how we got y=2(x-3)²-18 then bring down the +13 and the answer will be y=2(x-3)²-5.

look at the example that i just made... is that how you did your work? is that how you wrote it? if that's how you wrote it then you just lost some marks. why? because the "y" or "0" is not written before the equal sign. Remember what Mr. K said... DO NOT FORGET TO WRITE DOWN THE "Y" OR ZERO. so it should look like this...

y=2x²-12x+13
y=2(x²-6x+9-9)+13
y=2[(x-3)²-9]+13
y=2(x-3)²-18+13
y=2(x-3)²-5

We also learned how to find the roots.
But first, how do you know if it has roots?

f(x)=a(x-h)²+k

we only need to look at the a & k.
if the a > 0, the parabola opens up and if the k > 0 then it wouldnt have roots because it is above the x and it opens up. but if a is greater than (<)0 and k > 0 it has roots because the parabola opens down and the k is above the x.

finding the roots or x-intercepts.

how do we find the roots of y=(x+3)²-16?
first we just balance the equation.

0 =(x+3)²-16
let y= 0
16=(x+3)²
move the 16 to the other side of the equal sign
-3+4= x OR -3-4=x
take the square root of both sides
-3+4=1 and -3-4=-7
so therefore: x=1,-7
*note: dont forget to write the "x=".

okay so that was easy... but what if its not a perfect square?
it doesnt matter if it is or not... it still has roots.
example:


-let y=0
-then move 5 to the other side of the equal sign
-then take the square root of both sides.
- move the 3 to the other side. (it becomes negative)

^^ and you can leave the answer like that.




important things to remember:
-DO NOT DROP ONE SIDE OF THE EQUATION or FORGET TO WRITE THE "Y"/ZERO because if you do, you`ll end up losing marks.
-always write "x=" when writing the roots/x-intercepts.
-some equations are prime but still has roots.
-when drawing a graph don`t forget to label them.. it`ll also cost you a mark.

*i know these things were said million times already but ya... just a reminder ;) * hehe

well... thats all i could remember for now. til next time! ^_^

AND TOMORROWS SCRIBE IS... Robert.

Chatting and Study Groups

I noticed a lot of chatting going on in another blog so I installed a little chat window, it's called a Shoutbox. Give yourself a screen name and anyone can talk anytime you're here!

You may recall I talked about you all getting together in groups of 3 or 4 to create study groups. Meet once a week, say Wednesday's at lunch in the library or whatever works for you. Well, with the Chatbox you can set a time anytime when you call all meet online, chat and get whatever help you need with your homework in the Chatbox.

I think this will be a powerfull learning opportunity for all of you. It depends entirely on each of you individually. It's up to you whether or not you choose to get involved.

You'll find the Pre-Cal 30S Chatbox window down there at the bottom of the right hand sidebar.

Please leave me feedback in the comments to this post. Is this a good idea? Are you getting anything out of it? Should we keep it or delete the Chatbox? Leave your vote here. ;-)

Cheers,
Mr. K.

sorrie this is so late i was having trouble with this blog.so today in class we stared of by doing question from the homework. Then Mr kuropatwa told us his three legged dog joke. Then we stared doing work on completing the squre im not good at exlaing thing so im just gonna but some exaples:

y=x2+4x-7
y=x2+4x+4-4-7
y=(x+2)(x+2)-11

y= x2 - 6x + 7.
y= (x2 - 6x )+ 7
y= (x2 - 6x + 9 - 9) + 7
y= (x2 - 6x + 9) - 9 + 7
y= (x - 3)2 - 2

i know this isnt the best explanation of what we did today but i cant think of anything to write, next time ill be better prepared and sorrie agian for getting it done so late.

mondays scibe will be... kat

Completeing the Square!

Class time seems to just fly by! Sometimes we get hung up on a difficult problem and time seems to  d r a g  and sometimes we cover so much material in such a short time that it just seems to fly by.

I know some of us are still struggling with completeing the square. Well, help is here. I've got a brief video taped lecture you can watch to help you with this material over the weekend if you need it. The movie is of an instructor from the University of Idaho.

In order to watch the video you need to download the free realaudio player from here. (It's a little more than 11 Mb so if you have a slow internet connection this isn't a very good option for you.) After that, just click on the link below for help with completeing the square!

• Solving Quadratic Equations by completing the square
  (9 min. 58 sec.)

Let me know what you thought of the video in the comments to this post. Did it help you learn? Is it clear and easy to follow? Should I post more of these? ;-)

Have a great weekend!

SCRIBE TIME!!!!

Okay here I go I just want to warn everyone right now I’m not much of a writer so I hope you can all bare with me, and Abriel why did you have to raise the bar up soooo high haha well anyways today Mr. K started the class off by reviewing myself and fellow classmates with the previous topic we learned yesterday which was to find the vertex, axis of symmetry, domain, range, and so forth of a quadratic function. When you look at how an equation is written, REMEMBER that it can be written in many ways such as:

y=(x-3)²-4 is the same as y=x²-6x+5

While doing a chart, or any sort of equation and looking for the domain, range, etc DON’T FORGET that the domain is always (-∞,∞). Also when looking for the vertex and axis of symmetry WATCH OUT FOR THE SIGN OF H, and when your being asked WHAT a value is or point that means you’re to give the y-coordinate. Same goes if your being asked WHERE a certain point or value is, but instead you give the x-coordinate.

Afterwards Mr. K gave us an equation to factor which confused most of us…okay well sort of, that is I think…I guess we just couldn’t understand how we were to find the roots of this equation if you can’t factor it out because it looked prime, but to our surprise it wasn’t because it was in the fourth quadrant and opened up which shows and proves that there are roots. Here’s an example of an equation that is prime and that isn’t;

y=x²-6x+11 PRIME!!

y=x²-6x+4 NOT PRIME!!

Once we finished discussing about prime numbers we went on to our dictionary and took some notes down about the factored form of a parabola, basically if a quadratic is factorable (ie. not prime, it has zeros) then it can be factored as a product of 2 binomials.

Y=x²+5x+6
Y=(x+3)(x+2)

We wrote some more notes on using the factored form of a parabola. Took our calculators out for a bit, but didn’t do much with it today…not sure though :) but yeah before I forget Mr. K wanted the scribe…which is me to remind all you guys that when factoring out a quadratic DON’T AND I REPEAT DON’T FORGET TO ALSO WRITE DOWN THE ZERO OR Y!!!! because if you do your going to end up losing half a mark which I know right now doesn’t sound like much but on quizzes, test and maybe even on the exam once you count all those half marks you lost TRUST ME it’s going to end up being a ton of marks…well I hope I didn’t bore anyone to death since I kind of wrote a little too much….RRRRIIIINNNGGG well I guess that’s it, times up!!!!

Tomorrow’s scribe is….JonathonJ.

Parabolas [click here to start]

We've learned about all sorts of things you can do to the graph and equation of a parabola. We've also spent some time learning how to read the equation of a parabola. This is a good little review of what we've learned.

Scroll down a little bit and you'll see a button marked [click here to start]. It will open a new window that will allow you to see, instantly, how changing the values of a, h and k effect the graph of a parabola. Play with all three sliders. The section of notes that begins with a red B covers material we will talk about tomorrow. Read it tonight if you want to get ahead of the game. ;-)

Scribe THIS!

Well today's class went pretty well if you ask me. First started off with a few review questions about interval notation, figuring out if a point is on a graph of a function and finding different parts of a parablola. The interval notation part we didn't really go through heavily for one because most of us understood how to do that so GOOD JOB GUYS! Well at least that's what it seemed like since no one had any problems on them. The only thing we went through for the interval notation was a new concept known as Union, which is when you have exceptions for which 'x' can be. Example of that would be like [-10,-2] U [2,10], and that would be read as including -10 to including -2 UNION including 2 to 10. I don't know if I explained that properly but yeah comment if its wrong and I'll edit it.

Then the point on a graph of a function we went through thoroughly because it seemed as though we didn't know how to do it or just simply forgotten about it, but as soon as Mr. K went through it, it got easier and everyone seemed to understand how to figure out if a point is on a graph of a function. Then the last question about finding parts of the parabola everyone seemed to have gotten the idea. From seeing a graph and determining its Vertex, the X-Intercepts, Domain/Range, Axis of Symmetry and the Max or Min. On about the x-intercepts NEVER!! write the x-intercepts as (from review from class) (-3,0) and (3,0), THIS COULD COST YOU MAYBE HALF MAYBE EVEN A FULL MARK!! Be sure to write the intercepts as x=-3, 3.

After all of the review questions and the look at the rule of four again, we went into our dictionaries and took down some notes on the standard form (y=a(x-h)^2+k), and what each and every one of the letters meant. From understanding what each letters represented we figured out that given a standard form of a parabola, you can find many things without the graph such as the vertex, if it opens up or down or if its wider or skinner than x^2. DON'T forget about Mr. K's warning about 'h', WATCH THE SIGN! Beacuse 'h' is written -h in standard form the sign of 'h' is always going to be opposite.

Then after all those heavy notes (one page) we had some fun with parabolas by finding different things about parabolas, where'd they be on the coordinate plane and if it has x-intercepts. After getting used to all of that Mr. K gave a little review on factoring and showing us that we could find where a parabola was and the equation for it by getting it's x-intercepts by factoring, but it was confusing VERY confusing. Honestly I didn't understand how he was doing it =S. After that whole confusing moment about finding a parabola by its x-intercepts Mr. K looked at the clock and RIIING next class.

BTW: Guess what? Pamela your up bat tomorrow!

The Scribe List

This is The Scribe List. Every possible scribe in our class is listed here. This list will be updated every day. If you see someone's name crossed off on this list then you CANNOT choose them as the scribe for the next class.

This post is can be quickly accesed from the [Links] list over there on the right hand sidebar. Check here before you choose a scribe for tomorrow's class when it is your turn to do so.

Cycle 4
Larisap elizabethh Richard C. AichelleS. JessiccaI RoselS GraemeW	Jacky S. Craig K abriel_S KAT L. pamela_l Rannell d. Kasiaw	Jamilyn G. jennie_s Abdi JonathonJ. Robert aldridge robinna

Scribes Subscribe

hello there fellow bloggers ! As you already know i'm the next scribe sooo here i go.. in the begining of class Mr.Kuropatwa discussed a couple of the questions we did not understand from last nights homework. He went over "inequations" which are equations that deal with less than and greater than signs which are also called "equality signs" Also about rationalizing the denominator.. AND now he tells us that no one even cares about doing that. so forget about what your last teacher told you. and heres the big one. ABSOLUTELY CAN YOU NOT REDUCE THE SUM WITH THE DENOMINATOR. FOR EXAMPLE .... I WARNED YOU NOW . SO IMPLANT THAT INTO YOUR BRAIN. haha, so after him squashing the fly on the board, he went on about transformations. We learned about how to make parabolas skinnier, fatter, make them move to the left, to the right, and ones that open upside down. Then we played with our calculators and class was over. Time flys when your having fun =P. Andd .. the next scribe is ... ABRIEL.

How Many Parabolas Do You See?

As promised, tomorrow we will be putting some notes about how to transform the equation of a parabola to shift it up, down, right and left into our math dictionaries. We'll also look some more at stretching and reflecting.

You can read a review of what we talked about here. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to see some neat animations of what we've been learning.

BTW, how many parabolas do you see? ;-)

Scribes Subsribe

Hello there! Wow I'm the second scribe ? Oh wells, just get it over and done with. Do you remember in the beginning of the class Mr.K briefly talked about getting marks taken off tests if you don't label you axises and arrows if needed ? Doubt it .. so aren't you glad I put that thought into your head again . We also learned how to write interval notations and set builder notations and the differences between them. When writing interval notations you either use square [ ] brackets or round ( ) ones depending on the endpoint. In set builder notation you use a brace { }. Then we did some examples and next thing I knew class was over. I'm not sure if I did this properly, and sorry for the wait. The next scribe is ... LARISA =)

Students Made This!

Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet. I have come across posts from my students on blogs as far away as Sweden! That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar -- a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you.

Two teachers in the U.S.A. worked with their classes last year to come up with a list of guidelines for student bloggers.

One of them, Bud The Teacher, has these suggestions, among others:

1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.



2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.



3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.



4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.

Another teacher, Steve, developed a set of guidelines in consultation with his students. You can read them here.

Look over the guidelines and add the ones you like in the comments section below this post; either from one of Steve's students or one of your own. I think Bud's suggestions are excellent. We'll be using the one's I highlighted above as a basis for how we will use our blog.

Cheers,
Mr. K.

Blogging Prompt

Similarites: All three graphs have a maximum point, they are all parabolas and also have the same domains.

Differences: All three graphs have different vertex's, axis of symmetries and also different roots.

I think these differences have occured because the second term in two of the equations are different from the other one, making two of the parabola's shift in one way or another. Also the last term of one equation is also different from the other two making that one parabola shift in another way.

Blogging Prompt

The similarities I noticed about the three different curves are that: they are all parabolas, they have the same u-type shape, and they have the same domain.

The differences I noticed about the three different curves are that: they have a different range, they have different intercepts and they have different vertices.

blogging prompt

The similarities of these three functions are they create the same shape, have the same domain and parabolas. The differences are the range, x and y intercepts and the vertices.

Scribes Subscribe

Hahaha. So… I don’t know what to say… *Reads last post… Oh so that’s how you do it. Hahaha. So today in math we talked about Quadratic Functions. And how it’s important in Math. The first thing we talked about Foil. And guess what. No more Foil anymore. Ok. Just great. We now must all depend on the distributive property. Because Foil will Foil you. Hahahaha. Then we figured out how to use different perspectives to figure out an equation like X²+5X+6=0. Finally we got to get open our Graphing Calculators. So big… Err… Confusing… Just great. At least were learning how to use a Graphing Calculator like this instead of reading that big instruction book. By the way. No more Division… :’( Only Multiplication... My life has just got more complicated… Great. The last thing we did was some definitions for our Math Dictionary. Bell Rings. Homework. Next Class. What fun…

The Next Scribe is... ELIZABETH

Blogging On Blogging

A good class today folks! You gave good verbal feedback over the course of the lesson. Thank you. There's still a little more room for growth here though.

Today was our first extensive use of the graphing calculator. I know it can be a little confusing at first; it's hard to remember exactly where the various commands are hidden on the keypad. Don't worry about it too much. In a few more classes you'll feel like you've been using it your whole life. ;-) I know some of you are still trying to get your hands on a graphing calculator, if you have any trouble with it see me and we'll work it out together. One of the things I emphasized was the three different ways to represent a function; symbollically, numerically and graphically. This will become more important when you begin your study of calculus. It's also kind of neat to learn the meaning behind all that algrebra you had to grind out in Pre-Cal 20S. ;-)

We were talking about exactly what sort of post you're supposed to make to get that mark on your test. The kind of post I'd like you to make should have one or more of these characteristics:

• A reflection on a particular class (like the first two paragraphs above).


• A reflective comment on your progress in the course.


• A comment on something that you've learned that you thought was "cool".


• A comment about something that you found very hard to understand but now you get it! Describe what sparked that "moment of clarity" and what it felt like.


• Have you come across something we discussed in class out there in the "real world" or another class? Describe the connection you made.


• Respond to a Blogging Prompt I posted. (see below)

Your posts do not have to be long. I'm far more interested in the quality of what you write rather than the quantity.

Blogging Prompt
To help us along our blogging journey I've decided that I will also occasionally post a Blogging Prompt. It will be easy to find because I'll always put it under a heading like the one above this paragraph. Feel free to create your own Blogging Prompt for the rest of us if you like. If it's a really good one (i.e. has rich possibilities for blogging) we'll count it as your post. ;-) Here's my first one:

Use your graphing calculator (or an online tool; x² is written as x^2 and do not include the "y=".) to graph these three functions (y is the height and x represents time):

• The height of an arrow is given by: y = -16x² + 112x + 0


• The height of a baseball is given by: y = -16x² + 64x + 0


• The height of a football is given by: y = -16x² + 64x + 75

Blog a brief paragraph identifying ways in which these three functions are similar. Blog a second paragraph outlining the ways in which they are different and what causes these differences.

This sort of compare and contrast exercise can be made easier to do using Venn Diagrams. Draw three large overlapping circles. List the similarities in the appropriate overlapping sections and the differences in the non-overlapping sections. If you like, you can use this web tool to do it online. If you do blog about this prompt and want to post your diagram we'll talk about how to post pictures sometime in class. ;-)

Happy Blogging!

You're Here! Let's begin ....

Hi There! You found our blog! This is the place to talk about what's happening in class; to ask a question you didn't get a chance to ask in class; to get copies of a handout you didn't get in class (here's the course outline); for parents to find out "How Was School Today;" to share your knowledge with other students;.... Most importantly it's a place to reflect on what we're learning.

Remember what I said about the Forgetting Curve? Well a big part of Learning and Remembering involves working with and discussing new ideas with other people -- THIS is the place to do just that. Use the comment feature below each post, or make your own post, or make your own blog and link it to this one, or....the sky's the limit...let your imagination soar and lets get down to some serious blogging!

Here's your first online assignment:

Do you see the Links list in the side bar over there on the right? Follow the Study Skills Resources link. Browse through the sites until you find one that you think has excellent suggestions on how to study math; then, on a piece of loose leaf paper (or this worksheet) to be handed in on Monday:

1. Write the address and name of the site you most liked.


2. Rate the site out of 100; i.e. give it a grade!


3. Write a brief description (no more than 4 or 5 sentences) of the site.


4. Include a comment on what it was about this site that made it stand out for you (no more than 1 or 2 sentences).

Repeat this exercise for the second link that deals with Test Taking, i.e. how to write a test.

If you take this assignment seriously now and invest some real time and energy into it, you'll probably do real well in my class this semester...who knows, it might even help you in your other classes too! ;-)

Have Fun!