Activity Overview
In this activity, students use the CellSheet™ Application to approximate the slope of a line tangent to a curve.
Before the Activity
Install the CellSheet on the calculator using the TI Connect™, TI-Connectivity cable, and Unit to Unit cables
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 57 - 62 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to your class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
Use the quadratic equation for the curve and the x-value of the point of contact of the tangent to find the corresponding y-value
Set Δx as 1 unit to find another value of x and the corresponding y-value
Find the slope of the secant line joining the two points
Use smaller values of Δx (for better approximation of the slope of the tangent line) and determine the slopes of the new secant lines
Observe the pattern between the Δx values and slopes of the lines
After the Activity
Students will complete the worksheet and answer questions.
Review student results:
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary