Caclculus II: Parametric Equations

Last week I realized how much hand-holding my calc II students needed so they could get started with parametric equations. Most of them are very weak in trig. Many of them aren't sure how to get started when they're doing something new with graphing.

So I slowed down. But I also wanted them to do more exploration and experimenting. On a whim I gave them the typical assignment to draw something using parametric equations (or polar graphs). It can be anything, be creative. I don't have a particular assignment yet.

Sometimes (for some students) less is more. One of my students emailed me with a question, I replied, we went back and forth with over a dozen emails, and he produced this loveliness. I've included a screenshot below, but what he did is animated, so click on over to Desmos.

Wow! I hope his enthusiasm inspires the rest of them!

All You Need Is ...

(from the facebook meme, pictures removed)

[.docx here.]

If We Knew How to Trust

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If We Knew How to Trust

we see the amazing effort

young kids put into learning to walk and talk

(this work is their play),

and we know they are capable

of miraculous feats of learning.

if only we knew how to trust

their ability to continue learning

just as powerfully and miraculously,

maybe we could build a school system

that would honor every child’s fierce desire

to master the world’s skills.

their differences would no longer sort them

into good, mediocre, and bad students,

but into artists, scientists, poets, musicians, mathematicians,

writers, inventors, leaders, organizers, and more.

and each child would be many of these,

their differences adding to their strength as a community,

their school an ecosystem of learning.

written by Sue VanHattum, inspired by Lisa Cooley, 2014

[And here's another poem on what schools could be.]