Today's Slides: April 30

Here they are ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

A thought--

Exam Prep Wiki Solution Manual

As we gear up for the exam two short weeks away I want to push your thinking to yet a higher level. To a level commensurate with what will be required of you on the AP Exam. Towards that end here is your final major assignment (other than the take home exam in May) for the course.

You will collectively create a solutions manual for this course, one question each. Actually, there are two parts to this assignment: A Significant Contribution and a Constructive Modification. Here's what you have to do:

Part 1: A Significant Contribution
to be completed no later than May 2, 2007.
(1) Go to your Solutions Manual wiki (also linked in the side bar right under the Scribe List) and pick one question in the Side Bar list.

(2) Solve the problem completely. Show all work and annotate it as if you were explaining it to a classmate who was having trouble with it. (Similar to the way you write up your scribe posts.)

Part 2: A Constructive Modification
to be completed no later than May 6, 2007.
(1) Scan through the solved problems your classmates have written up. Find one with an error and fix it or correct a diagram or improve on what they wrote if it is unclear in any way or ... there's more about this on the front page of the wiki.

IMPORTANT
Make certain you always log in to the wiki using your first name. If you don't I won't know what work you have done and will be unable to assign you the marks you earned. Not logging in with your name is the same thing as handing in a paper assignment without putting your name on it. Also, if you've forgotten the password email me and I'll email it back to you.

Photo source: no solution

BOB

The course has concluded... This unit has been very interesting. I remember when Mr.K said we will learn how CSI people do their investigations. I saw it in the homework assignment. For me, Newton's Law of Cooling is a very interesting lesson. We learned how to calculate how long it would take for a certain object to cool down. I've learned a lot for the past couple of months in this course, even though the past things are just starting to make sense (since I'm just taking PreCal 40S). I still have to worry about my DEV in calculus. Some people say it's not fair for me to do 8 questions for DEV. I'm not usually the kind of person that "complains" about what my teachers give. Yeah, its a lot of work, but I'm up for anything the teacher throws at me.

I hope everyone did well on the test! =D

BOB

WOW it's the last unit test. I'm amazed by how quickly the time passed... anyway, I think I'm ok for this unit for the most part. We'll see how the test goes though. I'm more concerned about the DEV project right now though so I don't really have time to study. I guess it's a good lesson though, I should have thought more carefully about the due date I picked. I really wanted to hand it in earlier so my life wouldn't be so stressful after the AP exams, but now it's really REALLY hectic :S Right now I'm starting to feel like I don't even care anymore. One of my teachers said that it's because we're so close to the end we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we're just looking towards that and hoping to get there on momentum alone... and another thing I want to mention, all the people who write math textbooks and come up with problems, my respect for them has increased by about a billion percent. Coming up with questions is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even if you can solve a certain type of question, creating one in a way that works seems to me like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. an enormous rabbit. :)

BOB

Differential Equations is the final unit. It was short and I guess a bit difficult in the beginning, but what chapter isn't. During the beginnning it's mostly mechanical. Near the end there's more thinking, especially for the word problems. The day we did all those word problems really helped me out. Practice makes perfect. Those problems were practically the same, only the story was different. The assembly today really got to me especially about the attendance. When one of the guidance councillors discussed about the statistic or math problem he took about relations between attendance and marks it was kind of interesting for me. Even more when it was only for DMCI students not national or overall. We completed this unit, but I still have to study the previous units to get ready for that crazy exam coming up. Work hard everyone =)

Blogon the Blog #9

This unit in Calculus is fun to me. Even though I did pretty horrible on the pre-test, I think I have the right process of thinking to go about the problems. Had I remembered the antiderivative of e^-x was -e^-x, and not the same positive number, I'd have a perfect paper. Well near perfect paper, because I forgot to cube a number in the last part of the long answer question. But I'm pretty happy because it was just a mechanical error, or spelling error as Mr.K would like to call it. Going into this test I feel pretty confident in myself. Like I said this unit is pretty enjoyable. Once you grasp the idea of it, everything seems to flow easily. Good luck everyone.

BOB

omg... i almost for about BOB.. ok .. this unit is finally our last...but still we have the exam we have to study for... i really need to study for the exam.. because yes.. i don't want to waste this school year that I did calculus, all for nothing. =) test is tomm.. eventually it was going to come sonner or later.. I feel as if I didn't study as hard as I usually do... I guess i just thought in my head, "last chapter, 4 chapters, won't be as hard." Now as I study, I realized that its almost equally diffilcult/easy as the other units...It's really late, I should sleep now.. btw...I'm glad i didn't forget about bobbing. =D

BOB

Believe it or not, we've covered everything in the course!! I'm honestly proud of everyone!! First, Calculus isn't a class that everyone in high school takes. Second, even for the ones who can take it, it's not an easy course to get through. It takes patience and hard work. I'm lucky to be among people who actually care about their education and care about their peers. Thanks you guys for a great year.

The AP Exam is 15 days away. Anyone getting panic attacks yet? Well no one should, haha, we all deserve peace of mind. It boils down to choice, don't you think? This exam doesn't affect our marks after all, so why should we worry about it? Well, this is how I justified the put off homework and lack of prep for quizzes and tests. It wasn't a wise choice.

The reason why I took Calculus was to prepare for University. I've made up my mind even before taking the course that I'd take Calculus in University again. Like Mr. K said, we won't write an exam like this in our lives again. If we get through the AP Exam, it'd help us with our post-high-school education, and that's worth something. Why would anyone take this course in the first place if s/he is not willing to work for it?

We are all aware that we're busy and there are so much things going on in our lives. Honestly, my life doesn't revolve around Calculus. Throughout my high school career, I've worked my butt off. The only time I had a spare, in my almost 4 years at Daniel, is this semester, and even then I'm still having a hard time juggling everything. I'm sure all of us experience this. But we're almost there! Never give up, yeah? It would've been so easy to just drop this course altogether. But we're still here. What might be possible strategies to get through the course? Personally, I like working with other people. Might we do those study groups? Should we have "classes" where we're just having a conversation about Calculus topics, very casual, non-threatening? I think those work.

I'm starting to go through the Scribe Posts throughout the year. Haha, good times. Just before I leave this off, a reminder to everyone that we shouldn't get stressed out. Haha, someone once said, "one has achieved success, he who has lived well, laughed often and loved much". That, for me, is success. Recipe for success is passion + hardwork... then the money starts pouring in.. hurray!

Good night everyone.

BOB

Wow our last unit. This unit is alright. I think that the hardest part is figuring out what to do in the beginning. I think I did alright on the pre-test. I keep on forgetting the "C" and it's annoying! That is where I messed up on the last question on the pre-test. it's something that should have been avoided. I really like having the smart board in class. I can go back to check what we did in class. It's a big help. It's too bad we didn't have it at the beginning of the year. Although I find that it takes a little bit longer.

I liked questions like these:



But I'm not so hot with question like these:


because it is so easy for me to mess up on the question. It's just figuring out how to start.

My bio teacher has this thing he calls his students. He calls us all "Dr. Yeah Buts." They think of reasons not to do something like calculus homework. I don't want to be a "Dr. Yeah but," but sadly I am. I think its a very very bad habit to get into since we'll be in university next year. If I can't handle a busy workload in high school, well imagine university.... bahh!

I've started reviewing for the exam last week. It's frustrating because... well it's frustrating. I'm very glad I've stuck with this class. There were countless times where I wanted to drop this class, but I chose not to... plus my mom's a bit scary =S ... in a good way though =P Mom's are good at making you feel guilty....

bob

Well yeah this is theunit is over. well i guess this unit is pretty short compared to others and should be simple. i know that i shouldn't have missed those classes i have missed in the past few weeks and i am holding myself totally accountable. i guess its just becuase ive just been so busy with everything going on in my life that i just needed a break from everything and to just relax. anyways well the test is coming and i guess i can say that i am somewhat ready. ive just been ready the text book today and i think i understand most of it. well good luck to me cause i know ill need it.

BOB

We're done, done, done!!!! So the last unit was short... and that should have made it easier to learn, easier to understand, easier to do homework, etc, etc. Truth is, it hasn't gotten any easier for me. This is not the place to complain and I only have myself to blame. I haven't attempted to do all of the homework, or completely read the blog for this unit. I'm pretty clueless. I know if I did the homework, I would have a better understanding and idea of how to go about solving the problems. The exam is in two weeks. My project is due before that. We may be done the unit, but I am far from where I want to be in this class. I'm glad we're done the unit, I'm just not looking forward to the test =/

BOB

Hm the last unit! Our exam is coming up...and half of us will be in Banff this week. Chapter 9 was short and mostly mechanical. I think the hardest part is finding what to do first. After you know what to do, you can do the rest easily. The Pre-test wasn't that difficult but I still have some things to relearn. The only thing I'm worried about is Euler's method but I'll read about it in the textbook. I also have to practice those problems on those worksheets on Mr.K's post.

Scribe Post

Hello guys, it's Christian. 16 days left 'til the exam!!

Today we had the pre-test in class. The solutions can be found in the day's slides. The questions we worked on today were applications of ideas we learned this chapter. Not surprisingly, they were pretty much the same questions we've done before. That's all for me..

The next scribe is Suzanne.

Today's Slides: April 20

I was expecting you all to show up at lunch hour ... only Christian came ... and that was an accident!

19 Days Left until the exam.

Anyway here are the slides I filled out for you ... read them ... understand them ... ask questions if you don't ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

Scribe

Well we were supposed to have the pre-test today, but as a class we were not that ready. So instead we went into three different groups and worked on word problems. All the problems were practically the same, the steps were: 1) finding two points on the parent, 2)seperating varibles, 3) integrating, and 4) creating an equation. However we still had some difficulties or maybe it was just an off day. I don't know. But the more practice the better.

Remember everyone to keep up with the assigned homework. The AP exam is just around the corner. I also have to catch up and review. There's a homework sheet below for more practice.

The next scribe is Christian.

Today's Slides and Homework: April 18

Here they are ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

Here is your homework ...



and the answers ...

Scribe Post

Ahoy everyone! This is Jann, and I'll be your scribe for today.

We have finally finished the whole course. Today, we looked at some word problems on Differential Equations.

Here we go... (Note: I will be using Mr. K's slides... )

In order to solve this problem, we need to find the parent function. dy/dx is some constant multiplied by the parent function. We know that the temperature, T, varies with respect to time. (Basically, the temperature of the roast decreases over time) We need to find 2 points on the parent function...

At time, t=0, the initial temperature of the roast, which is 68 degrees F. Therefore, we have our first point, (0,68). For our second point, at time, t=2 hours, the temperature of the roast is down to 40 degrees F. This is our second point, (2,40).
Then, after acquiring the 2 points in the parent function, we integrate the formula. The Red Line shows that the calculus part of the problem ends. The following line is all Pre Calculus stuff. If we can recall our natural law from Grade 12 PreCal, "kt + C" is an exponent. Therefore, it is an exponent of the base "e". "e^C1" can be substituted into "C" because it is a constant. Then, we isolate the "T" in order to obtain the Parent Function.















Now that we have the structure of the parent function, we can solve for the missing terms such as "C" and "k".


Now that we have the parent function. We are ready to solve the problem...Then, we looked at one more example...


That's all we did today in class. We were suppose to look at another example, but we ran out of time. Good day everyone! XD

Oh yeah... next scribe is Crystal.

Today's Slides: April 16

Here they are ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

Scribe Post

So during Calculus class today we opened up the class reviewing Newton's method, which is used for approximating a nearby value using the slope of a tangent line on a differiential equation. e.g. approximating √(37) from using tangent line at √(36)

Then after that we programed our calculator with Euler's Method, which is just a mechanical process and is explained in the slides below. When you have a function that tells you the rate of change, we'd use this method to solve the differentiable equation. And a diffentiable equation is when one of the variables is a derivative. These problems can also be called initial value problems.

There's not much to explain for what we did in class, as you can see below in the slides.

Homework is chapter 9.3. Next class we'll tackle the newton's law of cooling question.

Next scribe will be Jann.

Perseverance

Do you think? Where does calculus fit into this?

Today's Slides: April 12

Here they are ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

Scribe Post

THIS IS LINDSAY =)

In class, we learned how to draw slope fields.

Let's review from our previous calculus class:


The order of a differential equation is the highest-order derivative.

y'=y is a first order differential equation.
y"=-y is a second order differential equation.

The solution to a differential equation is any function that fits the eqatuion.

For example, to find the differential equation to y'=y you find that you have to find a function that is its own derivative. We know that y=e^x is a solution.

When we think about derivatives, we think about slopes! For every input x, f''(x) is the slope of f(x) at (x,y). This is a first order differential equation: when it describes the slopes at a specific point.


Example: y'=y is a differential equation. At any point (x,y), the slope of the solution curve is the same as the y coordinate. If we use the point (1,2), the slope of the curve is 2. Whenever the y coordinate is y=3, the slope will be 3.


We were given a handout with some examples. We did this in class and the solutions are in the slide post.

1) y'=y; you would use y=e^x because it is its own derivative.

2) y'=2x; the parent function is x²

3) y'=-x/y;
x² + y² = k
2x + 2yy' = 0
y'= -x/y

*parent function is a circle

4) y'=x+y

For homework, we need to create a new program to create slope fields. You can find how to create it in 9.2 or you can ask a calculus buddy to send it to your calculator! Also do all the odd questions!

Euler's Method Solutions and Answers

Here is a copy of the assignment you had today showing the answers and solutions. The second page below shows two spreadsheets that you may find helpful.

Today's Slides: April 5

Here they are ...





To see a larger image of the slides go here. When you get there you'll see a button in the bottom right-hand corner that says [full]. Click it and the slides will display in full screen mode.

First Things First? Again??

Linger mentioned in a comment:

"These challenges that we're faced with everyday only make us stronger and better people. I know that there's been times when I wanted to give up... but then I think about how far I've come. My classmates are great and so is Mr. K... and yes, it gets frustrating sometimes, but it's always worth it at the end of the day. I think that these challenges are just oppurtunities for us to learn more about ourselves and each other, so whatever comes our way, we can and will defeat it =)"

So very good to remember now that May 9 is not far away!

I’m hoping that in my sharing one of my experiences, you can find some bit to help guarantee your success that day! In early 2003, I too faced an important test date and I too appreciated the opportunity and felt I had to find a way to defeat it as Linger says. Achieving this goal was too important to me and my test if I passed would lead to a national teacher certification (only 40% of test takers passed). I was really trying to be superwoman—just as I imagine many of you work at being superteens. I thought I was prioritizing but ooohh---a to-do list with 20 items all the time!!! Urgent “stuff” kept happening and I was always responding to that. Does that sound familiar?

I was overwhelmed!!!! I sat down and broke my test review into manageable chunks (I had 2 months until the test) and put them into my planner. I did that first because the goal to pass the test was so important. And I planned to turn off instant message, not answer the phone, or have the TV on during the review sessions. I had tried before but was always interrupted by the phone or my students on instant message with questions about our studies.

Then I looked at my other “stuff”, and categorized it: vital, important, or nice. Then I took the vital “stuff” and categorized them again: vital, important, or nice. And I let go the nice. So my house wasn’t very clean during the process, and we didn’t have gourmet dinners. But the laundry was done and we had quickie suppers. My students’ work was graded but I didn’t plan any big field trips or projects during that time. I set aside a time every second night to evaluate their work. As I look back now, I prioritized, and then prioritized again. I did a mental daily check of my goals and made every effort not to be dragged down by urgent if it didn’t help me achieve my goal. Of course, I had to be flexible at times. I couldn’t always follow the plan exactly. But since I knew where I was going and I had planned for time to get there, my review was accomplished by “the day”.

I truly believe, that with good preparation and putting first things first, you'll too feel that great rush of a job well done, and a goal achieved when you learn your scores. I share these experiences, knowing that you are planning and reviewing, but wondering is there one little piece here you could use to help you on your way? Or can you point us to some tips that are really helping you manage to put first things first?

Hey math buddies...

This is not math related, but I need your help. In my jounalism class and also for the school paper, I'm writing a story on downloading music and I need your opinions! ... I also don't have much time :

Most people don't think of downloading music as stealing. Do you? I've certainly never thought of it that way. I just thought of it as a way of listening to music. If I really like the song then go out and buy it. You don't want to be stuck with an album that sucks and your stuck with it. I mean how much is a CD, like $15 to $20. Most people think "why spend the money when you can get it for free?" Therefore, saving that money for something else. I mean what about libraries. Is there a difference between borrowing a book and reading it for free and listening to a song for free?

There are copyright laws that need to be respected but most people don't think about it. In the states you here about people, even as young as 12, being sued by RIAA for downloading. I mean imagine being a 12 year old and recieving a letter saying your being sued. Does the same thin happen in Canada.

I think the music industry needs to discover a new approach. Internet is obviously here to stay and we have access to sooo much, including free music, to millions of people.

You're opinions will be greatly appreciated, it wouldn't be fair to include only my opinion since this topic has so many other views.

By the way, have you guys checked out the new school paper?? =D

I don't know what to label this... BOB? Yes I'll call it BOB