Thursday, December 31, 2015

Calculus BC 2015-2016 December: The Calculus of e^x and ln(x)!

Calculus BC 2015-2016 December

The Calculus of e^x and ln(x)!
UNIT07 was all about differentiating exponential functions. We talked about the base e and any base a. Now we are starting to make a library of anti-derivatives of quotients like 1/x as well. As a result, we can handle more sophisticated Differential Equations and Slope Fields.
NEW STUDENT MADE FILKS: 
CALCULUS CAROLS 2015:
YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
2 Days of Watson of Jeopardy!

Calculus BC + TI-nSpire CX CAS
SCREENCASTS: 

Well, that's all folks!
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preCalculus 2015-2016 December: Conic Sections!

preCalculus 2015-2016 December

Conic Sections!
We spent all of December on CH10 Conic Sections. We talked about the General Form:
Ax^2+Bxy+Cy^2+Dx+Ey+F=0
and converting to standard form Parabolas, Ellipses, Hyperbolas using Completing The Square when B=0. When B was non zero, we converted to Polar Notation:
x=r*cos(theta), y=r*sin(theta)
We talked about the directrix, latus rectum, center, focus, parabolic mirrors, whisper gardens and planetary orbits! We even played with parametric mode and ballistic trajectories.

YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
2 Days of Watson on Jeopardy!

preCALCULUS CAROLS 2015:

NEW preCalculus + TI-84plusC
SCREENCASTS:
Well, that's all folks!
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AP CompSci 2015-2016 December: Conditional Statements!

AP CompSci 2015-2016 December

Conditional Statements!
December was spent mostly on CH6, LAB5, TakeHome5. We talked about boolean operators, if then/else statements and predicate methods! We even talked about DeMorgan's Laws, Truth Tables, BiConditionals, Tautologies and Equivalent statements:
YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
2 Days of Watson on Jeopardy!

AP Computer Science + JAVA
SCREENCASTS: 





Well, that's all folks!
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Thursday, November 19, 2015

AP CompSci 2015-2016 November: Primitive Data Types!

AP CompSci 2015-2016 November

Primitive Data Types!
In CH4 we talked about when to use ints vs doubles. We introduced the Math class in particular and Static classes in general. We also talked about different types of input: args[], Scanner, JOptionPane. Last, but not least, we played with the Integer class a bit: parseInt(), MAX_VALUE, MIN_VALUE. Next week is the week before Thanksgiving and we should be done with Lab 4. We have Take Home FRQS on Tuesday and Game Day on Wednesday! BTW, before every Take Home Tuesday, we do 10 MCQs for practice on Socrative!
What we know so far (CH1-Ch4+BIN):
What's a Class?
What's an Object?
What's a Method?
How do we use args[] (commandline input)?
How do we use Scanner (terminal input)?
How do we use JOptionPane (GUI input)?
What's Encapsulation?
What's Abstraction?
How do we use the String (immutable) class?
How do we use the Math (static) class?
How do we use the Integer (container) class?
What's a private instance field?
What's a final?
What's a Constructor?
What's an Accessor?
What's a Mutator?
What's javac, java, javadoc, appletviewer?
What's jdk, jre?
What's BIN, OCT, DEC, HEX?
What's coming up next?
CH05: Conditional Statements
CH06: Iteration aka Loops
CH07: 2D and 3D Static Arrays and ArrayLists
CH10: Inheritance
CH11: Polymorphism
CH18: Recursion
CH19: Searching and Sorting Algorithms
YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Watson on NOVA!

AP Computer Science + JAVA
SCREENCASTS: 
DROPBOX: CashRegister.java

 DROPBOX: Cone.java

DROPBOX: DataSet.java

DROPBOX: Converter.java
DROPBOX: SodaCan.java

Well, that's all folks!
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preCalculus 2015-2016 November: Vectors!

preCalculus 2015-2016 November

Vectors!
OK, we went nuts these last few weeks! 903 was about Complex Numbers as Vectors on the Complex Plane. For some reason this made QUIZ9A and QUIZ9B really tough.... 904 was about 2D Vector Arithmetic and 905 was about 2D Scalar Dot Products. Then we did 906 3D Vector Arithmetic and 907 3D Vector Cross Products. We are reviewing now. Next week, before Thanksgiving, we'll have preTEST9A Review on Monday, TEST9B on Tuesday and BZFlag Game Day on Wednesday! The day before or next Holiday Break we go all over school singing preCalculus Carols!

YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Watson on NOVA (all month)!

NEW preCalculus + TI-84plusC
SCREENCASTS:
SAGECELL: 903

SAGECELL: 904

SAGECELL: 905

SAGECELL: 906

SAGECELL: 906a

SAGECELL: 907
Well, that's all folks!
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Calculus BC 2015-2016 November: Applications of Integration!

Calculus BC 2015-2016 November

Applications of Integration!
UNIT06 is about Measurement Theory. In other words, we applied the concept of the Definite Integral to find Area, Volume, Arc Length and Surface Area! For Volumes Of Revolution, we worked extensively with Disk, Washer and Shell methods. We also talked about Volume with Known Cross-sections not necessarily circular as well as arc lengths of curves that were not necessarily circular!

 BTW, Quarter I ended last Friday, so we have some new students made FILKs for xtra credit! Also, see below for a the infamous Numa Numa Calculus FILK which is a great review of Antidrivatives! Last, but not least, we're done with Admiral Grace Murray Hopper and Tom Lehrer for Youtube Wednesday. We switched over to a NOVA about the Super Computer named Watson.

 We've gotten into the habit of starting each new unit with a Socrative Friday and ending each unit with a TakeHome Tuesday. We're about done with this unit, so I think we'll continue this practice. We probably do have to do some practice AP Exams in class. Maybe we'll bring back MCQ Mondays and FRQ Fridays once a month. 
Next week is the week before Thanksgiving. We'll review on Monday, have Take Home FRQS with a preTEST on Tuesday and Game Day on Wednesday! BTW, the day before or next Holiday Break we go all over school singing Calculus Carols!
NEW STUDENT MADE FILKS: 
Topical nonYOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Numa Numa Calculus Review!



YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Watson of NOVA all month!

Calculus BC + TI-nSpire CX CAS
SCREENCASTS: 
SAGECELL: UNIT601

SAGECELL: UNIT602

SAGECELL: UNIT603

SAGECELL: UNIT604

SAGECELL: UNIT605

SAGECELL: UNIT606

SAGECELL: UNIT607

SAGECELL: UNIT608

Well, that's all folks!
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Thursday, October 29, 2015

AP CompSci 2015-2016 October: Fast as a speeding bullet!

AP CompSci 2015-2016 October

Fast as a speeding bullet!
Finally, all our internet and intranet issues have been addressed. I can usually fix moshttps://www.dropbox.com/s/r5pxzmxzx0tv615/C3X11_RoachMotel.java?dl=0t hardware, firmware and software issues in my room. However, the problem stemed from networking issues feeding my room that I could not control. The only thing we're waiting on is an external IP so my students could finish some projects from home. I'm told that the Gremlins are working on it! Patience is a virtue after all....

We are working on CH3 Making Our Own Classes. So we have finally graduated from OBP (Object Based Programming using pre-existing java classes) to OOP (Object Oriented Programming making our own classes). We're at the point in the course where we're making our own Constructor, Accessor and Mutator Methods. So we are abstracting and encapsulating our data. We're not quite up to Inheritance and Polymorphism but we're getting there. Soon, we'll start a unit on Bits&Bytes, aka Binary Arithmetic and Truth Tables!


Weeks 3&4 = Boolean Algebra!
We will soon continue our Labs with CH4 Primitive Data Types, CH5 Conditionals, CH5 Iteration and CH6 Arrays. But first, we are playing around with Binary Arithmetic. We started by converting to Base 10, then converting from Base 10. Then we started counting, adding and subtracting in other bases. Yesterday we started playing with integers! This is all leading up to Truth Tables and Logical Circuits next week.


Weeks 5 = Week Of Darkness!
We finished our discussion of Boolean Arithmetic with Truth Tables and Logic Circuit Diagrams. We call it the "Week Of Darkness" as we shut off all the power and the lights in the room this whole unit, except for the SmartBoard, as we are not coding at all this week.


YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Gracey of Letterman!
Back To The Future Day 10/21/2015!
Tom Lehrer's The Elements

AP Computer Science + JAVA
SCREENCASTS: 
DROPBOX: BankAccount.java
Well, that's all folks!
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Friday, September 25, 2015

Calculus BC, 2015-2016 September: Hit the ground running!

Calculus BC, 2015-2016 September: 


Hit the ground running!
Welcome back! I hope you had a great Summer. Let me just give a quick summary of week 1. I will usually post similar updates once or twice each month.

We started with CH2 Limits and the Difference Quotient this week. Why? Because I decided to skip CH1 preCalc Review. I want to "hit the ground running" and not spend too much time on review or the early chapters. This way we'll have more time for more challenging topics!

We had a lot of networking and power issues the first week of school, so I'm using last year's screencasts. I already recorded new lessons as we started using the TI-nSpire last year. So, the networking issues didn't affect us as my Calculus students use the PCs mostly for the nSpire emulator on the Desktop.


Week2 = Finishing Limits!
OK, we are sailing right along! We're almost finished with Limits and the definition of the derivative as the limit of the Difference Quotient! 

Week3 = Differentiation Rules!
This week was mostly about some practice. Then we had a review session in the form of a PRE_TEST warming up for our first TAKE_HOME_TEST! We're doing more take homes this year to conserve class time so we have plenty of time for the tougher topics near the end of the curriculum! So, Friday, instead wasting a period on testing, we started UNIT03 on the Algebraic Rules for Differentiation. In other words, we talked about the Product and Quotient Rules. We didn't get to the Chain Rule yet. As you can see, we start the year with a thorough review of AP Calculus AB material!

Week4 = More Differentiation Rules!
We practiced the Product and Quotient Rules. Then we played with the Chain Rule!

Topical YouTubes not for Wednesdays!







YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Tom Lehrer's Lobachevsky!
Grace Hopper on 60 Minutes in 1983!
Tom Lehrer's New Math!
(No class Wednesday of Week 4)

Calculus BC + TI-nSpire CX CAS
SCREENCASTS: 














Well, that's all folks!
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preCalculus, 2015-2016 September: Internet Issues!

preCalculus, 2015-2016 September: 

Internet Issues!
Welcome back! I hope you had a great Summer. Let me just give a quick summary of week 1. I will usually post similar updates once or twice each month.

We started with CH6 SOHCAHTOA this week. Why? Because CC Geometry covered Conics so I'm not doing CH10. Also CC Algebra covers Series so I'm skipping CH12. However CC Algebra does not cover as much Trigonometry as Algebra II & Trig did. So, I'll start with and emphasize Trig this year!

We had a lot of networking and power issues the first week of school, so we didn't get to screencast anything yet. I was going to screencast this class live this year because of all the changes listed above and because we're using the TI-84 Plus C emulator for the first time. We will still use SAGE from time to time, but not as much as in the past. 


Week2 = Finishing Chapter 6!
We focused on SOHCAHTOA. Then we worked on dilation, reflection and translation of the Sine and Cosine functions and their graphs. Finally, we worked on non-linear regression - mostly SinReg. 

Week3 = Chapter 7!
This week we talked about Identity Proofs in Chapter 7. Next week we'll be solving Trig Equations also in Chapter 7.

Week4 = Finishing Chapter 7!
We finished up Chpater 7 by solving trig equations. We also had our SLO_PRE_TEST. Then we had a real PRE_TEST (review in groups) to get ready for our real TEST!


YOUTUBE WEDNESDAYS: 
Tom Lehrer's Lobachevsky!
Grace Hopper on 60 Minutes in 1983!
Tom Lehrer's New Math!
(No class Wednesday of Week 4)

Topical Youtubes not for Wednesdays!


NEW preCalculus + TI-84plusC
SCREENCASTS:

OLD preCalculus + TI-83
SCREENCASTS: 






Well, that's all folks!
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