The activity at the beginning of the hour helped my understanding of the generalization represented in the first graph by helping me understand the slope of the line. By looking at the different points on the line and determining the slope on different intervals, I was able to figure out what the general slope was. My group did kind of struggle. We struggled while using Desmos and Snag it. It took us longer than necessary to create the GIFs and use Snag it. We were having difficulty putting everything together, but it turned out alright. We eventually figured everything out and got the GIFs to work. It was just difficult and stressful in the beginning. The whole process was kind of tedious. We had to snag the last graph at home. From the first graph to the second graph, we just had to make sure that the line was not anchored at a point. To do that, we just slightly changed one of the functions. By the time we did the first two graphs, the third one was pretty simple. We just picked a new function and did basically the same thing. By analyzing secant lines, I am able to determine the slope of the tangent line at a point in the function.
GIFs: This week, I got through the first part of learning about limits. For the most part, I understood pretty much everything we went over in the first section of limits. This is good because a lot of people have a pretty good understanding of limits from last year. However, I just started learning about limits, so I am glad that I understand it. This might be leading me into more in depth concepts concerning limits. I understood the removable discontinuity part of limits very well. I am struggling right now with the salt and pepper function limits though. It seems like sort of a difficult concept, but I am sure that as I look at a little more, it will become easier to grasp. I liked the removable discontinuity limits. They were not too difficult. Usually you can just plug in the value x is approaching, but these problems do not allow you to do that. It will give you a divide by 0 or something that you have to change. All you have to do is factor the top and/or bottom of the equation, cancel out anything that can cancel, and now plug in whatever x is approaching. You should be able to solve the equation easily now. My participation this week was solid. Each day I had homework, I went around to the whiteboards and either listened or helped every day. I still need to work on the salt and pepper functions, which I will look at further on the weekend since it is homework. I started the packet today in class. The first part is pretty simple, but the questions become more difficult. I am about halfway through the packet so far. Next week is the limits test, so I hope I will do well on that. I did alright on the limits quiz, so hopefully I can do well again.
www.mathgoodies.com This week I learned about limits. This is important because some people already have a background with limits from Pre-Calculus. Also, limits are important because they will have to be remembered throughout the year. The things I learn are compiled into each test, so I will have to remember limits. In previous years, graphing has been very important and I have done it a lot. Algebra is also involved in solving limits if you do it by hand. I understood how to plug in numbers and solve for what the limits were. I also understood how to graph to find the limits. I sort of struggled a little bit with limits, since I did not take the third trimester of Pre-Calculus. Other people took the third trimester of Pre-Calculus and already know about limits. I, on the other hand, just started working with limits. Therefore, it took me a little more time to understand limits. How to find a limit algebraically is by plugging the number that x is approaching into the f(x) equation and solving. My participation was good this week. We did some whiteboard problems that our groups worked together on and I was able to work on them collaboratively. I still need to work on limits, as I do not have a full grasp on them yet. Solving the removable discontinuity problems were challenging. Those problems were not my strong suit. The straightforward limit problems were fairly simple. I hope that within the next week or so, I will understand limits fully so that I can do well on the upcoming test. Limits doesn't seem to be too difficult of a concept to understand once you get the hang of it. I did well on the first week pre-requisite quiz, except for one silly mistake. I was pretty happy with that quiz, and I hope I continue to do well like that.
This week, I reflected on my prior knowledge in math class, in order to complete the pre-requisite packet. So far, I have only been given a refresher on my past math skills. This is good because I should already know the things I have been doing. Everything I have done has connected to previous topics learned in other math classes. This information is preparing me for my first test and the introduction to calculus. I have understood the questions in the packet very well, considering I remember how to do most of it. I haven't really struggled with anything. I was a little rusty with my graphs for some reason, but other than that I was fine. I like solving for x because it is usually self explanatory. I remember that I have to isolate the x, cancel out terms, and do some simple adding and subtracting to get the answer. I thought that my participation was good when we had to participate, but most of the week was just working on the packet, blog, etc. I still need to work on refreshing my memory because I know this is not all we have learned, but other than that I am fine. I think the collaboration aspect of the class is neat, and I like the class so far. I like how much time I have had to work because in most classes, I am rushed to finish a big homework assignment every night. If I had a packet or worksheet every week instead of homework, I think that would actually be a really cool change to normal math classes. I think I could learn just as well with less problems, but more in-depth analysis on a few critical thinking problems. Although this is AP Calculus, I think it could be a fun math class.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2015
Categories |