Education Technology

Constructing an Ellipse

Subject Area
Math: Algebra II: Conics
Level
9-12
Activity Time
60 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS

Constructing an Ellipse

Activity Overview

Students will explore two different methods for constructing an ellipse. Students discover that the sum of the distances from a point on an ellipse to its foci is always constant. This fact is then used as the basis for an algebraic derivation of the general equation for an ellipse centered at the origin.

Subject Area
Math: Algebra II: Conics
Level
9-12
Activity Time
60 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS
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