Scientific Computing
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math
Teaching & Learning Math & Science with Technology:
Graphing Calculators, Numerical Methods, Computer Algebra Systems & Linux Clusters
Why Shadowfax? Our cluster is so fast that we named it after the Lord Of The Rings character!
Website once known as http://CalcPage.tripod.com (1988 – 2008)
Every Monday we have a MCQ Monday Mock exam and review it during the week. Every Friday we have a FRQ Friday Mock exam and go over it the following week. We've been doing this forever and we're going a little cuckoo! Don't worry, the AP exam will be here before you know it!
Every Monday we have a MCQ Monday Mock exam and review it during the week. Every Friday we have a FRQ Friday Mock exam and go over it the following week. We've been doing this forever and we're going a little cuckoo! Don't worry, the AP exam will be here before you know it!
Just as we started the school year in preCalculus with an 8 week Boot Camp about Trigonometry, we are ending the year with an 8 week Boot Camp on Introductory Calculus! I say 8 weeks because I'm including our last chapter in preCalculus, namely Rational Functions in Chapter 3, as the beginnings of our discussions of Limits at a Point (Removable Discontinuities) and Limits at Infinity (Horizontal Asymptotes). Then I give a brief overview of the important concepts of Calculus: UNIT02 Limits, UNIT03 Derivatives and UNIT05 AntiDerivatives spending 2 weeks on each. We will likely finish all this right before Memorial Day. After Memorial Day we start Final Review!
We're still is a bit of a holding pattern, I'm afraid. We did everything we can do without any new hardware (see below). So, let's see if next month we finally get a delivery from BOCES? If not, our last meeting will be just for handing out binary graduation cords to my Seniors for the National Computer Science Honor Society!
March Post
Before we can continue with our openMPI project, we need a Linux Cluster! We used to have a classroom full of quad-core Linux boxes where we could setup a 100-core 50 GFLOP/s cluster for free! Now we only have Windows boxes, what to do? So, instead of going with Big Iron, maybe we should switch gears and try building our very own Little Fe Linux Cluster out of Raspberry PI 3.0 single board computers? As I type, we are looking into funding for a project similar to the one you see in the YouTube clip above. Maker Space, here we come!
March CIS(theta) Update:
We are still waiting for funding from BOCES for our RPI project. So, this month we just burned 25 Fedora Game Spin 27 DVDs and had a BZFlag Game Day right before Easter Break!
Donorschoose Update:
We got 4 codrones funded in just 27 days! Thanx to all my generous donors! Our latest Donorschoose campaign raised money for 2 codrones in just 7 days! Our first Donorschoose campaign took 20 days. These codrones will be used in our final project in AP CompSci after AP Exams.
March Homework!
In the meantime, you can download the BCCD ISO file and burn your own bootable CD. BCCD stands for Bootable Cluster CD. Don't worry if your first burn doesn't boot. You can use that CD as a "Linux Coaster" for your favorite beverage the next time you play on SteamOS. If you can make this work at home, try to run GalaxSee HPC Module from the BCCD documentation page.
Also, here's our fourth reading assignment. BTW, I was an editor on this book. That's why I recommend it. It's all about setting up and programming a Linux Cluster aka Super Computer with COWS (Commodity Off-the-shelf Work Stations = ordinary PCs). What's unique about this book is that it uses Java for all its coding samples making it an easy read for anyone who has taken AP CompSci!
NEW DECOR (Display Case):
Featuring ChromeCast & Processing!
NEW DECOR (Room 429):
Featuring Tapestry from RedBubble!
So, what's all this good for aside from making Fractal Zoom or Shrek Movies?
SETI Search
Econometrics
Bioinformatics
Protein Folding
Beal Conjecture
Scientific Computing
Computational Physics
Mersenne Prime Search
Computational Chemistry
Computational Astronomy
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Computer Algebra Systems (CAS)
These are but a few examples of using Computer Science to solve problems in Mathematics and the Sciences (STEAM). In fact, many of these applications fall under the heading of Cluster Programming or Super Computing. These problems typically take too long to process on a single PC, so we need a lot more horse power. Next time, maybe we'll just use Titan!
UPDATE 2018: OK, I'm not in the running this year. "Why," I hear you gasp? Well that's because the Math, Science and Computer Science entries for teachers of grades 7-12 is every other year, aka the odd years. This is an even year, so the President is honoring Math, Science and Computer Science teachers of grades K-6.
What follows is my entry from last year in case anyone wants to take any tips away from that post. IDK, if you really want to look to my entry as the best example since I did not win. However, I have some good stuff here.
I had 2 different entries in 2013 and 2015. In 2017 they said I could resubmit my 2017 entry and just update my biographical data, my school's demographic data, my resume and my letters of recommendation.
On all 3 occasions, all 3 judges on my panel loved my stuff except for one who gave me poor marks on not speaking at national conferences. Unfortunately I can't travel alot.
BTW:
1) LIMACON is an international event,
2) T^3 is sponsored nationally by TI, and
3) Speaking at national or international math conferences is not a requirement for this award. Just sayin....
PAEMST 2017 Entry
Once more onto the breach, my friends? Well, I hope that the 3rd time is the charm! I think this will be my last attempt at this application process! Hoping for NYS Finalist this time, at least.
I was nominated to compete for the PAEMST award for the first time around 11/1/2012. I went through the whole application process, all 10 grueling steps of it and uploaded my entry by 5/1/2013. But I was not chosen.
I was nominated again around 11/1/2014 and finished a whole new application by 5/1/2015. But I was not chosen, not even for NYS Finalist?
I was nominated again around 11/1/2016. This time I was told I could simply resubmit my 2015 application. So, silly me, I waited until now (4/1/2017) to resubmit, only to find out that I had to reedit everything! I was able to cut and past my essay and resubmit my video (see above). However, I need new recommendations by 5/1/2017! If you are not familiar with PAEMST, please see this blogpost from 8/18/2012. Here's my blogpost about my 2013 application. Here's my blogpost about my 2015 application. BTW, my 2013 video is at the bottom of this post. As you can see above, I'm resubmitting my 2015 class video. I won't bore you here with all 10 steps in the application. The boring parts involve verification of eligibility, proof of employment, school demographics, demographics for the class that was recorded, parental video consent forms, just to name a few requirements. The most important parts, after the video, are copied below for your viewing pleasure: Essay aka Narrative summarizing the video, Supplemantary Documents for the Essay, Teacher Resume and 3 Recommendations. Everything has been updated except for the recommendations. So, I include here the 2015 recommendations.
