Activity Overview
In this activity, students investigate the relationship between the coordinates of a point on the circle, radius of a circle, and the values in the equation of the circle.
Before the Activity
Install the Cabri® Jr. App on the students' graphing calculators using one of these two methods:
TI-Connect™, a TI Connectivity Cable, and the Unit-to-Unit Link Cable
TI-Navigator™ "send to class" feature
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 1 - 10 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
Draw a circle of any radius in quadrant 1
Drag the circle so that the center of the circle is at the origin
Display the coordinates of point P, where the circle intersects the x-axis
Display the coordinates of the center and the equation of the circle
Notice that the x-value of P represents the radius of the circle
Drag point P along the x-axis and relate the equation of the circle to the coordinates of point P
Move the center of the circle away from the origin
Observe the coordinates of the center and point P
Observe how the values relate to the equation of the circle
After the Activity
Review student results:
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary