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Classroom Activities
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Draw a triangle and measure the area, now lock the area so that it cannot change. What forms might the triangle take now? Students explore the family of triangles created when the area cannot vary. Based on their findings, students work towards the formula for the area of a triangle.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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Students use calculus (solid of revolution) in both Cartesian and Parametric form to determine the volume of an ellipse when it is rotated around the axis to form an ellipsoid (football). Students also use arc-length to check measurements.
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In this activity students collect data for a range of ball sizes and masses. The data is then analysed and an appropriate line of best fit is applied. Students then consider balls that don't quite fit the plot, including an AFL football. In considering an AFL football students use alternative means to create a comparison with the spherical balls. Calculations include arithmetic mean (radius), geometric mean (radius) and volume. Students are ultimately provided with a problem involving the design of a ball using a specific material and thickness leading to calculations of density.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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5
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What seems like a really simple coin tossing problem has a very surprising result that is counter intuitive. After playing a few sample games students may start to become suspicious with regards to whether the game is fair. Students then start collecting data as evidence, leading to a great exploration that provides insights into sampling distributions, confidence intervals and Type I and Type II errors.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
- TI-Nspire™ CX
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0
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The popular TV show "Letters and Numbers" screened on SBS between 2010 and 2012. The Numbers aspect of the show required contestants to use mental arithmetic to generate an equation equal a target number given 6 random numbers consisting of a mix of small and large numbers. Since the show aired, many teachers and their students have played this or similar games. This activity takes the basic game and extends it into a calculator program and an entire investigation sure to build students' arithmetic skills, estimation, problem solving and much more.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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What is the probability that two randomly selected integers (whole numbers) are co-prime? This is a really simple algorithm to write, the result however is very surprising! Divide 6 by the proportion, then take the square-root, what number remains?
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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Students start by constructing the Spiral of Theodorus by hand using traditional pen and paper techniques. Once they have the general construction idea, they produce the spiral using the dynamic geometry facilities of TI-Nspire. The length of the hypotenuse is then explored as the spiral progresses.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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In this activity students have the opportunity to learn a useful integration technique to help establish a rule for the integral of sine, cosine and tangent raised to increasing integer powers. A teacher slide presentation is provided to help work through the technique.
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In this coding activity students discover how apparent chaos can turn to order. A FOR loop and three IF THEN statements, combined with the midpoint rule (two points) and we see randomly generated points forming what appears to be a Sierpinski triangle. Check it out!
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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Students use a variety of functions and relations including: linear, parabolas, circles, hyperbolas and exponential functions to build a picture of a snowman. Students identify the strengths, limitations and assumptions as they progress through the task.
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2
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Have you ever wondered about how bar-codes work? This activity looks at the numbers that make up a bar code, specifically the algorithm that formulates the check digit. Students use the information about the algorithm to write some code to automatically check the validity of a bar code.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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0
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Euclid's Algorithm for the Highest Common Factor is a perfect fit for students coding in mathematics. This 2000 year old algorithm finds the highest common factor of two numbers, students can however extend the algorithm to find the highest common factor of a list of numbers with the option to place this new functionality in the calculator's public library.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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1
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In this activity students use the conversion tool on TI-Nspire to convert temperatures in Fahrenheit to Celsius. The data is then used to establish a rule for the conversion.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
- TI-Nspire™ CAS
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1
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In this activity students explore decimal approximations to sequences of continued square-roots. Students identify which patterns will approximate to integer results.
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0
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Students are provided a series of randomly generated linear equations and required to 'guess' the equation by consideration of gradient and y intercepts. A very efficient and engaging way of completing some revision on linear graphs.
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- TI-Nspire™ CX
- TI-Nspire™ CX CAS
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1
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