| Title: |
Calculus in Motion for GSP 4
|
| Author: |
Audrey Weeks
|
| Course: |
Calculus AB, Calculus BC
|
| Abstract/Summary: |
Calculus is the study of movement and change, and students should experience it that way. The dynamic animations in Calculus in Motion allow your students to see calculus concepts come alive. This software, available in Windows and Macintosh formats, is for use with Geometer's Sketchpad, version 4. A similar but smaller set of animations is available for version 3 of Sketchpad. Don't worry if you have never used Sketchpad before. All you need to do is have it loaded on your computer, and Calculus in Motion takes over from there.
I was not familiar with the commands of Sketchpad, but within minutes I was exploring calculus with Calculus in Motion. There are 62 calculus animations, ranging from the definition of a derivative to Riemann sums to volumes. Related Rates, for example, consists of pictures illustrating five classic related rate problems. A click of a button advances time to commence the action for sliding a ladder, reeling in a boat, filling a conical tank, rotating a searchlight, or walking away from a lamppost. These actions are a great way to introduce related rate problems. You can see the values for the variables and their rates of change at any time. The problems allow for variations in the given information to see which relationships hold and which ones change.
You can explore slope using animated tangent lines. You can see any desired combination of a function, its first and second derivatives, and its area or antiderivative. Then you can "morph" each graph using sliders, or enter your own function and apply all of the same animated features to it. An animation for slope fields is an excellent way to introduce the concept and is enough information to teach the topic even if your textbook does not include it. An added bonus is that you can copy and paste the graphs or diagrams into documents for tests or worksheets. Thirty-one free-response problems from recent AP Calculus Exams, from 1997 to 2002, are also included as animations. These are useful when reviewing for the AP Exam.
I really like this software, and I recommend it highly for all calculus teachers. If you have the facilities for students to explore with it or if you can project the image and lead a classroom discussion using it, Calculus in Motion is well worth the purchase. It is user friendly and intuitive to use. The graphics are good, and the flexibility for changing the problems allows for creative teaching of many calculus topics. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an animation from Calculus in Motion must be worth ten thousand!
|
| Publication
Data: |
Audrey Weeks
1725 N. Niagara Street
Burbank, CA 91505
|
| Type: |
Software
|
| Cost: |
$120.00 |
| Vendor
Name: |
Audrey Weeks |
| Vendor
Phone: |
(818)845-6332 |
| AP
Specific: |
No |
| Link
to More Info: |
http://www.calculusinmotion.com
|
| Link
to Resource: |
|
| Resource
Includes: |
Explorations, Simulations/Animations |
| Reviewer
Name: |
Martha Montgomery Reviewers |
| Review
Last Modified: |
08/05/2002 |
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