Friday, May 30, 2014

CIS(theta) 2013-2014: MAY Meeting - TI nSpire CX CAS! (LAST POST THIS SCHOOL YEAR IN THIS THREAD)

CIS(theta) 2013-2014 

LAST POST THIS SCHOOL YEAR IN THIS THREAD:
MAY Meeting - TI nSpire CX CAS!
We changed gears this month as my DonorsChoose project was finally funded with the help of Google Gift Cards from Codecademy. We got a class set of TI nSpire CX CAS Graphing Calculators. The only problem was getting a good emulator for Linux. This year we had replaced VTI with TILEM (TI-83) and TIEMU (TI-89). Next year we'll be using SageCell in preCalculus instead of the TI-83 and the TI nSpire CX CAS in Calculus instead of the TI-89. See my new DeskTop in the ScreenCast above using KARMTI.

Hope you had fun clustering with us this year. Have a great Summer, see you next year! 



April Meeting - MPI4PY
We played around with the pelicanHPC DVD and our mandelmpi.py program trying to zoom in on different regions of the Mandelbrot boundary:

mpiexec -n 4 --hostfile ~/tmp/bhosts mandelmpi.py


March Meeting - openSSH
We decided to install a native openMPI stack over our Ubuntu OS on all the hard drives in our cluster and skip using the DVD. The idea is to login from home and ssh to any node to login on the cluster as needed! We took our queue from from the 2011-2012 CIS(theta) team summary. We already covered steps 1-3. We're on step 4, installing Public Key Authenticated SSH!

InstantCluster Step 1: Infrastructure - Power, Wiring and AC
InstantCluster Step 2: Hardware - PCs
InstantCluster Step 3: Firmware - Ubuntu
InstantCluster Step 4: Software Stack I - openSSH
  1. Install openSSH-server from http://packages.ubuntu.com
  2. Create a the same new user on every box of the cluster
  3. login as the new user, we used 'shadowfax'
  4. If you have no .ssh directory in your home directory, ssh to some other machine in the lab; then Ctrl-d to close the connection, creating .ssh and some related files. 
  5. From your home directory, make .ssh secure by entering:
    chmod 700 .ssh
  6. Next, make .ssh your working directory by entering:
    cd .ssh
  7. To list/view the contents of the directory, enter:
    ls -a [we used ls -l]
  8. To generate your public and private keys, enter:
    ssh-keygen -t rsa
    The first prompt is for the name of the file in which your private key will be stored; press Enter to accept the default name (id_rsa).The next two prompts are for the password you want, and since we are trying to avoid entering passwords, just press Enter at both prompts, returning you to the system prompt.
  9. To compare the previous output of ls and see what new files have been created, enter:
    ls -a [we used ls -l]
    You should see id_rsa containing your private key, and id_rsa.pub containing your public key.
  10. To make your public key the only thing needed for you to ssh to a different machine, enter:
    cat id_rsa.pub >> authorized_keys
    [The Linux boxes on our LAN, soon to be cluster, have IPs ranging from 10.5.129.1 to 
    10.5.129.24 So, we copied each id_rsa.pub file to temp01-temp24 and uploaded these 
    files via ssh to the teacher station. Then we just ran cat tempnn >> authorized_keys 
    for each temp file to generate one master authorized_keys file for all nodes that we could 
    just download to each node's .ssh dir.]
  11. [optional] To make it so that only you can read or write the file containing your private key, enter:
    chmod 600 id_rsa [optional] To make it so that only you can read or write the file containing your authorized keys, enter: chmod 600 authorized_keys
InstantCluster Step 5: Software Stack II - openMPI
InstantCluster Step 6: Coding I - Quadrature
InstantCluster Step 7: Coding II - Mandelbrot
InstantCluster Step 8: Coding III - Mandel Zoom
InstantCluster Step 9: Coding IV - POVRay
InstantCluster Step 10: Coding V - Blender
InstantCluster Step 11: Coding VI - 3D Animation

February Meeting - mandelSEQ.py 
We finally figured out how to write a single core version of the Mandelbrot program in python!
Next we have to figure out how to add MPI4PY functionality to this program writing mandelMPI.py and run it on all 96 cores!
During our March meetings we'll setup a native MPI stack on our Linux boxes. We are following the MPI4PY examples from this manual:



Midterm Week II
Tweaking the SmartBoard User!
 
After setting up Legolas as a Student PC, I added the passwd protected user Shadowfax to Legolas with "sudo adduser shadowfax" in the terminal. Don't forget to "sudo chmod 700 /home/*" so your files are secure when legolas is logged in! Now, Shadowfax will be my Teacher user (see video above). Further, I'm tweaking this Teacher user for SmartBoarding, ScreenCasting and Mirroring:

SmartBoard = 
Xournal or SmartNoteBook
ScreenCasting = 
avconv or Screencast-o-matic
Mirroring = 
SplashTop or TeamViewer

Then, I followed these steps:
(1) Install JRE as a FireFox plugin using the zip file and instructions given here. I wanted to update to the lastest JRE so that Screencat-O-Matic (SOM) could work again for ScreenCasting. I also wanted JRE for Keepvid, but this site won't allow JRE 1.7 as it's considered a security risk. You may want to install 1.6 instead. I got SOM working fine, but I'm still using avconv as it renders an MP4 file on the fly. I used SOM for the last screencast I made. That video was only 16 minutes long but SOM took over 8 minutes to render a 55MB file! By comaprison, the video above was recorded with avconv and is about 20 minutes long but took no time to render after I stopped recording! However, the MP4 file size was nearly 150MB.
(2) Download the latest 32 bit version of SmartNotebook for Linux from SmartTech. Be careful to install the DEB files in this order of dependency: smart-common, xf86-input-nextwindow, nwfermi, smart-activation, libudev0, smart-gallerysetup, smart-hwr, smart-languagesetup, smart-product-drivers, smart-notebook. 
2a) note: xf86-input-nextwindow and
libudev0 were installed using the Ubuntu Software Center (USC). 
2b) note: when you first execute your newly installed SmartNotebook, you will need a product key!
(3) Install Chrome from here. I need Chrome for the ESchool gradebook.
(4) Install Ubunutu-Restricted-Extras from the USC to get flash and to enable libdvdfree4 for DVDs and VLC among other things.
(5) Install VLC from the USC to play back MP4s and DVDs.
(6) Install libav-tools from the USC to use avconv instead of ffmpeg for ScreenCasting.
(7) Install TeamViewer or SplashTop from the USC to mirror the desktop to a tablet aka Kindle Fire HD an 9" Droid tablet with an HD multi-touch screen. In Ubuntu 13.10 you need to install python-appindicator from the USC for SplashTop to execute. Mirroring apps are great for controlling your Desktop and SmartBoard remotely from a tablet! It's your choice, but I'm using TeamViewer right now as I have to pay for SplashTop due to the high school's network setup. At the college, the network is set up in such a way that SplashTop is free to use.
(8) Install Xournal from the USC to be used instead of SmartNotebook as needed.
8a) note: when I use SmartNotebook in combination with either screencaster plus TeamViewer, the system is very laggy.
8b) note: when I use Xournal in combination with either screencaster plus TeamViewer, the system response is better!
8c) note: last Summer, I found SplashTop to be a little more responsive than TeamViewer.
8d) note: the following work together
BlueTooth or USB mic
avconv or SOM
8d) note: in Linux, I prefer
BlueTooth mic
avconv
xournal
Teamviewer
WiFi Droid tablet.
8e) note: on the road, ie Windows, I use
USB mic
SOM
SmartNotebook
SplashTop
SmartBoard or PC Projector.
8f) note: on the road, last Summer, I used
USB mic
SOM
xournal
SplashTop
PC Projector.
8g) note: in Linux, right now, I use
BlueTooth mic
avconv
SmartNotebook
SplashTop
WiFi Droid tablet or SmartBoard.
9a) to use avconv instead of SOM with a USB Mic, use this script: 
#!/bin/sh
cd ~/
avconv -f alsa -i plughw:1,0 -f x11grab -r 30 -s 1600x1200+0+0 -i :0.0 -vcodec libx264 -preset ultrafast -threads 4 -y 00avonc.mp4
9a) to use avconv instead of SOM with a BlueTooth HeadSet, use this script: 
#!/bin/sh
cd ~/
avconv -f pulse -i default -f x11grab -r 30 -s 1600x1200+0+0 -i :0.0 -vcodec libx264 -preset ultrafast -threads 4 -y 00avonc.mp4


Midterm Week
Reinstalling the Teacher PC!
First, I reinstalled my Linux box as a student station with the new 32bit Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamader as follows (see screencast above):
(1a) download latest ISO and burn a DVDs
(1b) install DVD with plain vanilla defaults
(2) edit eth0 connection
(3a) edit system settings/network/proxy
(3b) edit system settings/appearance
(3c) edit system settings/brightness
(3d) edit system/settings/printers
(4) edit sources to main in USC
(5a) sudo apt-get update
(5b) sudo apt-get upgrade
(6a) USC install WINE and TIEMU
(6b) add TI89 and TI92 ROMs to TIEMU
(7a) download, extract and install TilEm
(7b) add TI83 and TI84 ROMs to TilEm
(8a) download and extract SAGE.lzma
(8b) echo "alias sage=$HOME/Desktop/SAGE/sage" >> ~./bashrc
(8c) source ~/.bashrc
(9) all we left on the desktop was the SAGE directory, a short cut to TilEm and our handy dandy Trig Table (see below)
(10a) to use TilEm, the students just click on the short cut
(10b) to use TIEMU and SAGE open a terminal and type "tiemu" or "sage" on a command line. I also added a VERY complicated bash script for this:
#!/bin/bash
tiemu

January Meeting
Testing out code!
We searched the web for MPI tutorials and found some code to try out on our 96 cores. Take a look at our sample code in the DropBox link above. We compared serial vs. parallel samples of the same task, whether it be Quadrature or Fractal! Using the pelicanHPC DVD we have compilers for mpicc, mpiCC as well as mpif77. I don't know if we have mpif90. We can also use mpi4py without compiling! 

mpif77 = FORTRAN77
mpif90 = FORTRAN90
mpicc = C
mpiCC = C++
mpi4py = python

When we compiled, for example, FORTRAN77 code we used the mpif77 compiler on both the serial and parallel versions:
mpif77 -o fpi-serial fpi-serial.f
mpif77 -o fpi fpi.f

then to execute said code:
./fpi-serial
mpirun --hostfile ~/tmp/bhosts -np 96 ./fpi

If you want to test your code off the cluster and you have, say a quad-core, you can do:
mpirun -np 4 ./fpi

What's nice about mpi4py is that you can just execute your code:
mpirun -np 4 01-hello-world.py

Here's a promising site for sample *.f and *.c code!

Next meeting we are going to write our own mpi4py code to generate Mandelbrot Fractals!


December Meeting
Firing on all cores!
Today we booted up the entire LAN using the pelicanHPC 64bit 2.9 with mpi4py DVD! We finally got up to 24 nodes with 96 cores and nearly 50 GFLOP/s!! Great job guys!!! Now we have to decide if we are going to install a  native MPI stack. We also need to research sample MPI code online to learn how to program the cluster in FORTRAN77, C, C++ and python. We used the code above, which estimates pi using Reimann Sums and arctan(x), to stress the cluster. BTW, we don't have 100 cores as my PC is on another logical subnet and its only dual core anyway.
To compile:
mpif77 -o flops flops.f
To execute
mpirun -np 96 --hostfile ~/tmp/bhosts flops


November Meeting II
Firing up the cluster for the first time!
We are trying to figure out if we can use a bootable Linux CD to boot up the cluster or if we want to add an MPI stack with public key authenticated sshd to our Ubuntu Desktop. So, we downloaded the pelicanHPC ISO, burned a DVD and got 17 compute nodes or 68 cores running at about 35 GFLOP/s! 

Hey, that's not too shabby, just 13 years ago, top500.org reports that all you needed were 50 cores running at 55 MFLOP/s to make the list of one of the 500 fastest clusters in the world! We may even get up to 50 MFLOP/s if we get all 100 cores up and running. 

So, we're looking at pelicanHPCBCCD and ClusterByNight for MPI. We used to run clusterKNOPPIXBCCD and Quantian with openMOSIX. Too bad openMOSIX isn't supported anymore. It was so easy to code for MOSIX. In C or C++ all you had to do was use the fork() function to start a new process. openMOSIX ran in the Linux Kernel. Whenever your processes came close to using 100% of you CPU, MOSIX would automagically  send one of your forked jobs to another processor. When we started using MOSIX, we only had one core per PC, so that meant send the job to another PC on the LAN. In those days (late 1990s) we managed to run 100 cores anyway by taking over 4 PC Labs on my floor at school....

November Meeting I
Last Linux Install Fest!
We finally got the new 64bit Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamader installed correctly on all student PCs. I'll upgrade my station at a later date. We got this down to a science: 
(1a) download latest ISO and burn 8 DVDs
(1b) install DVD with plain vanilla defaults
(2) edit eth0 connection
(3a) edit system settings/network/proxy
(3b) edit system settings/appearance
(3c) edit system settings/brightness
(3d) edit system/settings/printers
(4) edit sources to main in USC
(5a) sudo apt-get update
(5b) sudo apt-get upgrade
(6a) USC install WINE and TIEMU
(6b) add TI89 and TI92 ROMs to TIEMU
(7a) download, extract and install TilEm
(7b) add TI83 and TI84 ROMs to TilEm
(8a) download and extract SAGE.lzma
(8b) echo "alias sage=$HOME/Desktop/SAGE/sage" >> ~./bashrc
(8c) source ~/.bashrc
(9) all we left on the desktop was the SAGE directory, a short cut to TilEm and our handy dandy Trig Table (see below)
(10a) to use TilEm, the students just click on the short cut
(10b) to use TIEMU and SAGE open a terminal and type "tiemu" or "sage" on a command line.
(11) I'll add TilEm and TIEMU to the start-up menu. I was going to add "sage -n" too, but I don't want FireFox hogging all my Desktops at bootup!

October Meeting II
Linux Install Fest Again!
I downloaded 8 copies the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop 32bit ISO: 13.10 Saucy Salamander. Then I burned 8 DVDs and reinstalled the Linux partition on the second row of 8 PCs in our classroom. The geek squad did all the tweaks this time! 

We are having a massive problem with VTI running under WINE. It's so slow as to be unusable. We have to figure out a solution. Maybe 13.04 is better? Or maybe I can get WINE's direct ppa and use their latest version?

Another problem is that we have a SAGE directory on the Desktop extracted from the latest compiled version of SAGE. In there we have a SAGE bash script. I usually make it executable and students can just click it to run SAGE. In 13.10, the script will not execute, the script just opens in gedit even though I made the file executable. I even ran "which bash" to see if bash moved (it did) so I could update the #! line but still no joy!

How about an alias like:
echo "alias sage=$HOME/Desktop/SAGE/sage" >> ~/.bashrc

then:
source ~/.bashrc

October Meeting I
Linux Install Fest!
We downloaded 8 copies the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop 64bit ISO: 13.10 Saucy Salamander. Then we burned 8 DVDs and reinstalled the Linux partition on the first row of 8 PCs in our classroom. I did all the tweaks the following day.

Next week I'll reinstall the 2nd row and the Geek Squad will do all the tweaks. I like to keep the Student Stations very simple. So, we will only tweak as follows:
(1) configure Network (eth0, proxy)
(2) configure Appearence and Brightness 
(3) configure Printers
(4) sudo apt-get update (after setting sources to main).
(5) sudo apt-get upgrade
(6) install WINE
(7) copy VTI to the desktop
(8) extract SAGE to the desktop

September Meeting I
Administrativa!
(1) Wreath of the Unknown Server: We visited our first ssh server, Colossus, which is still in the switch room though dormant. I set it up for the first time in 1995 running Slackware Linux. Colossus ran for 12 years straight, 24x7 never having to shut down, reboot or even have anything re-installed!

(2) Display Case Unveiled: We took down a ton of fractal prints and ray tracings from Room 429 to the 2 cases on the 1st floor near the art wing. We decorated both cases as best we could and left before anyone saw us. Must have been gremlins.

(3) Recruiting: We decided that we have more than enough qualified CIS(theta) members for this year's Geek Squad, so we tabled that topic.

(4) Planning: We have to wait another 2 weeks 10/4 at which point Ubuntu 13.10 Desktop Edition should be available for a mini install fest. After that, we may use bootable cluster Linux CD distros such as BCCD and pelicanHPC to learn MPI using C++ or Python. We also talked about installing an MPI stack on each hdd along with public key authenticated ssh. We would like to make a fractal zoom animation.

(5) Summary: This year's CIS(theta) team is off to a good start. Shadowfax, our 100 core cluster, is in good hands!

==================================
What we are researching VIII (Apr): MPI4PY

Lisandro Dalcin



==================================
What we are researching VII (Mar): MPI4PY

Lisandro Dalcin


==================================
What we are researching VI (Feb): MPI4PY

Lisandro Dalcin

==================================

What we are researching V (Jan): MPI
==================================
What we are researching IV (Dec): MOSIX
==================================
What we are researching III (Nov)
==================================
What we are researching II (Oct)
==================================
What we are researching I (Sept)
Thomas Jefferson High courses
Thomas Jefferson High paper
Thomas Jefferson High ftp
Thomas Jefferson High teacher
==================================
Daily Attendance:
CIS(theta) 2013-2014: Taty absent

BiWeekly Topic:
CIS(theta) 2013-2014 - MPI4PY! 

Monthly Reading:
Chapter 8Building Parallel Programs (APR)
Chapter 7Building Parallel Programs (MAR)
Chapter 6: Building Parallel Programs (FEB)
Chapter 5: Building Parallel Programs (JAN)
Chapter 4: Building Parallel Programs (DEC)
Chapter 3: Building Parallel Programs (NOV)
Chapter 2: Building Parallel Programs (OCT)
Chapter 1: Building Parallel Programs (SEP)
==================================
Membership (alphabetic by first name):

CIS(theta) 2013-2014: BryanS, CheyenneC, DanielG, HarineeN, RichardH, RyanW, TatianaR, TylerK

CIS(theta) 2012-2013: Kyle Seipp

CIS(theta) 2011-2012: Graham Smith, George Abreu, Kenny Krug, LucasEager-Leavitt

CIS(theta) 2010-2011: David Gonzalez, Herbert Kwok, Jay Wong, Josh Granoff, Ryan Hothan

CIS(theta) 2009-2010: Arthur Dysart, Devin Bramble, Jeremy Agostino, Steve Beller

CIS(theta) 2008-2009: Marc Aldorasi, Mitchel Wong

CIS(theta) 2007-2008: Chris Rai, Frank Kotarski, Nathaniel Roman

CIS(theta) 1988-2007: A. Jorge Garcia, Gabriel Garcia, James McLurkin, Joe Bernstein, ... too many to mention here!

==================================
Well, that's all folks!

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Teaching Math 4R: Calculus UNIT5A: Applications! (LAST POST THIS SCHOOL YEAR IN THIS THREAD)


Teaching Math 4R:
Calculus UNIT5A: Applications!

LAST POST THIS SCHOOL YEAR IN THIS THREAD:
Quarter IV Weeks 5&6: 5/12-5/23
We covered a number of loose ends in UNIT5A. We played around with Optimization, Related Rates, Accumulator Functions and Volumes of Revolution!

This is the last post in this thread for this year as next week is Final Review and then we have In-Class Finals. I think we had a successful year. You have all our ScreenCasts, SmartNotes and SAGE WorkSheets for the whole year right here in this post! However, next year I think I'm rerecording my ScreenCasts with my current mic. The beginning of the year had poor audio. Also, I think I can use SAGE more. 

Hope you had fun learning SAGE with us this year. Have a great Summer, see you next year!

SAGE Calculus UNIT5A: Applications


Bye Bye Period 3, Math 4H preCalc
You will be missed! 

Bye Bye Period 4, Math 4R-11 preCalc
You will be missed!

Bye Bye Period 7, Math 4R-11 preCalc
You will be missed!

Quarter IV Weeks 3&4: 4/28-5/09
We finished UNIT5 on Anti-Derivatives with a lot of python programming in SAGE for Riemann Sums! 

Here's a number crunching version of nLRTE in a SAGECELL. 

Here's a graphical version of gLRTE also in a SAGECELL. 

These programs calculate Left Sums, Right Sums, Trap Sums and trap Errors. You can change f(x), a, b and n and recalculate everything on the fly! The graphical version, gives numerical output as well as a graph of the rectangles and allows for GUI input.


Quarter IV Weeks 1&2: 4/14-4/25
We started UNIT5 on Anti-Derivatives 2 weeks ago and will continue UNIT5 for 2 weeks more. UNIT2 was 2 weeks on the Definition of the Derivative. UNIT3 was 2 weeks on Product Rule, Quotient Rule and Chain Rule. Now, UNIT5 is 4 weeks on Definite and Indefinite Integrals, Differential Equations and Riemann Sums!

SAGE Calculus UNIT5 Anti-Deivatives:


Quarter III Weeks 7&8: 3/24-4/04
We finished UNIT2 of Calculus with the Definition of the Derivative as the limit of the Difference Quotient. We also started UNIT3 about the Product Rule and the Quotient Rule. We had fun on April Fool's day (see video 302). Chain rule in next week!

SAGE Calculus UNIT3 Derivative Rules:


Quarter III Weeks 5&6: 3/10-3/21
We finished CH3 Rational Functions. I always like to end preCalculus this way as Rational Functions is a rich topic for introducing limits at infinity and limits at a point. Then we started UNIT2 of Calculus with the Definition of the Derivative as the limit of the Difference Quotient. 

We already figured out the Power Rule as well as the derivatives of sin(x), cos(x) and exp(x) not to mention 1/x and sqrt(x) which are really Power Rule anyway!

Take a look at our SagePub directory above. We've been using SAGECELL in class a lot lately. I've been saving these cells as worksheets on the Clemson server to share here.

SAGE Calculus UNIT2 Limits:

Quarter III Weeks 3&4: 2/24-3/7
We didn't get much accomplished these past few weeks with all the Snow Days and February Break! We did, nevertheless, get to finish the PreCalc text doing CH3 Rational Functions. We also talked about Linear, Quadratic, Power and Polynomial Functions. I love to end on this topic as its a nice intro to Limits! Next unit starts Calculus! We also started using the SAGECELL server (see video).


SAGE Chapter 3 Rational Functions:

Quarter III Weeks 1&2: 2/3-2/14
We didn't get much accomplished these past few weeks with a Delayed Opening and so many SnowDays of late! We did somehow finish CH4: Polynomials. We talked about Real Roots, Complex Roots and InEqualities. After February Break we'll cover CH3 Rational Functions before starting Calculus!

NOTE TO SELF:
BTW, we had problems scheduling our Midterm this year. I think that next year I'll leave CH5 for after Midterms so we have more time for Review! So, we will cover Chapters 12,11,10,9,4. Then we Review and have an in class Midterm. After Midterm week, we can cover CH5 and CH3 and then Calculus! We can be a bit more SAGE intensive next year too, now that I have all my SAGE worksheets. Maybe we'll try using http://cloud.sagemath.org or http://sagecell.sagemath.org too.

SAGE Chapter 4 Polynomials:



TI83 Chapter 4 Polynomials:

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,