Texas Instruments Graphing Calculators and Computer Software have had a tremendous impact on mathematics education. Not only do they realize the power of visualization, but they change the content of mathematics curriculum and allow for real discovery learning to take place. The calculators are affordable, portable, and powerful. And their programmability makes them as versatile as a computer. Here's some stuff for you. Enjoy.
A Slope Field Activity (zip file) based on 2004APCalcAB6 for TI-Interactive.
Slope Field Laboratory (zip file) is a 3-page TI-Interactive document that allows for interactive, graphical slope field investigations. For a preview of the document as a pdf file, see the Slope Field Lab Preview.
CLOCK is a ZIP file containing CLOCK.8XP, a circular 'analog' clock by Juan Gonzales and John Hanna. It displays a circular face with minute and hour hands and a sweeping dot for the seconds. Also display AM/PM and the date. Use the calculator's MODE to set the clock. Demonstrates the use of some clock functions and the importance of trigonometry in setting up the positions of the hands of the clock.
TIMER84 is a ZIP file containing TIMER84.8XP, a countdown timer. When you run the program, enter a number of seconds. Then the countdown begins. At the end, it displays "TIME'S UP!". A demonstration of the chkTimer() function built into the TI-84 and the 'length of a number' algorithm.
STOPWA01 contains a TI-84 Plus 'stopwatch' program that acts as a stopwatch using the clock functions. Press Enter to start and press Enter to stop and the elapsed time in seconds is displayed.
Opening the Black Box: LinReg Explained
- (8 pages) My handout for the April, 2008 NCTM Annual
Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. This handout explains the mathematics
of Linear Regression using the Least Squares Method in terms that high school
Algebra students can grasp (with knowledge of parabolas). The document was produced
with TI-Interactive! and the original TII file is
available if you'd like it and there's also a TI-Nspire CAS version. Just contact
me.
NCTM
2008 TI Booth Presentation Powerpoint Slides (9 pages). This file
is called "Algebra_2_Calculator_Items.pdf".
Building a TI-Navigator Cart
- by George Hurlburt, Chair / Associate Professor of Mathematics; NYSMATYC
President. George was not impressed with the cost of those metal carts for housing
the TI-Navigator system so he decided to build one himself. See how it's done
for around $200.
Advanced Mathematics with the TI-84 for
the Feb 2007 T^3 Regional conference in Hot Springs, AR.
LINE Program document is my demonstration
program for conference sessions on calculator programming. Contains the programming
code and explanations. (1 page) See also: "The
Power in the Palm of Your Hand".
Pick Your Model for the T^3 Regional
Conference, Staten Island, NY, Nov 3-4, 2006. (2 pages) or the long
version (6 pages).
Beyond Algebra for the AMTNJ North Regional Conference at Kean
University, May 12, 2006 (9 pages)
for Elizabeth, NJ presentation on April 10. 2006... TI-84
Plus Basics (4 pages)
For the T^3 Regional Conference, Wilmington, DE, March 31-April
1, 2006: Navigating TI-Navigator
and Teaching Calculus
with the TI-89
CAS 4 ALL (113k, 6 pages) for the
T^3 international Conference (Feb, 2006).
Introduction to TI-Navigator 2.x - a 3 page handout giving a brief
overview of hardware, software, features and tools.Prepared 12/7/2005.
TI Navigator Activity Center - handout for the TI Navigator Conference
at Middlesex County College August 23, 2005 (3 pages)
Choose A Model - an activity for the TI-Navigator Conference at
Hampton University, VA, May 15, 2004. 4 pages
Once Upon A Circle 2006 - from the NCTM Annual Conference, St.
Louis. 10 pages
The Power in the Palm of Your Hand - 2006 presented at several
confences. Includes some TI-84 clock samples. Now 19 pages.
CAS - What's all the fuss? (5 pages)
USACAS 2003 Handout
- posted 6/16/03 - 6 pages on the TI-89.
The Pencil Revolution
(2 pages), by Bill N. Lacy, President of The Cooper Union,
private, all-scholarship college in New York. This satirical essay appeared
in the “My Turn” section of Time Magazine sometime during the early
1990’s when the computer craze was hitting the nation’s institutes
of learning. ---Judy Wheeler.
The TI-89 for TI-83'ers (6 pages).
posted 02/05/03 for T3 Regional, Wilmington, DE. An overview of the TI-89 for
teachers familiar with the TI-83 or TI-83Plus.
Discovering
Geometry with Cabri (on the TI-92/Voyage 200) (4 pages). posted
10/13/02 for T3 Regional, Middlesex County College, NJ.
What's 'APPening on the TI-83/4
Plus? (posted 4/13/2002)- handout for NCTM Las Vegas.
Yarra River Bike Trails
(posted 7/112/2006) an investigation of making two quadratic functions fit a
smooth curve. By Peter Fox from Australia.
Memory Management on the TI-83/4
Plus (new 01/03/02) is a 5-page document describing the memory
configuration (RAM and ARCHIVE) of the TI-83 Plus and how to ARCHIVE and GROUP
your stuff in the calculator.
TI83Symbols.zip (10/14/01-
contains TI83Symbols.dot) The "TI-83P Symbols Template" for Word
2000, including a custom toolbar for the TI-83 keyfont symbols and a button
linking to Grab83. Clicking the 'Grab83' button will paste a screenshot into
the document using "Grab83". Put this file in your Templates folder. In Word,
check Tools/Options and look at the File Locations tab to see where your template
files are located. Naturally, you need to have the TI-83P Symbols
font installed in order for these buttons to do their job. If you don't like
the picture of the TI-83 in the left margin (it's really in the header!) , just
double-click it and press the 'delete' key.
TI89Symbols.zip (new 03/04/01) is ZIPfile containing a Word2000 document template (TI89Symbols.dot) that contains a custom toolbar with some of the TI-89 keyfont characters as buttons. To use the .dot file, copy it to your c:\windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates folder. Then, either click your START button and choose "New Office Document", or, in Word, choose File/New... and you'll find TI89Symbols.dot as one of the 'General' document choices. Double-click it and you should get a new document with a TI-89 Symbols toolbar. To use the toolbar, just click one of the buttons and that symbol from the TI-89 Symbols font should appear at the current cursor position in the current font size. Cool. Check back regularly for updates to this file or add your own toolbar buttons using the 'Make Your Own Toolbar' instructions above.
Make
your own toolbar (new 03/04/01): a one-page explanation
of creating Word2000 macros and a custom toolbar to make 'buttons
' representing the TI calculator keyfont symbols. Makes short work of putting
the calculator key symbols into your handouts. It's how my symbols templates
got made.
The TI-89, CBL2, Motion, and
DataMate() (4 pages) contains step-by-step instructions for collecting
'bouncing ball' data using the CBL2's built-in DataMate software. Written 03/01.
The
TI-89, CBL2, Microphone, and physics() (4 pages) contains step-by-step
instructions for collecting 'sound' data using the CBL2 and Vernier's physics()
program. Written 03/01.
Sierpinski x 3 , a 2 page document
describing three different ways of generating the Sierpinski Gasket on
the TI-82/3, including programs, explanations, and pictures.
Julia and the TI-92 , a 1 page document
about programming the 'chaos game' (with complex numbers) for the Julia Set.
Feigenbaum and TI , a 1 page
document containing the Feigenbaum diagram (a 'bifurcation' fractal consisting
of parabolas) from the TI-92 and the short TI-92 program that
constructs this amazing fractal.
Chaos: the rest of the story , a 2
page document (published in the Sept 2001 Mathematics Teacher "Technology
Tips" section) that adds two items to the good article by Robert Iovinelli
in the February 2000 issue of the Mathematics Teacher magazine published by
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
. The 'big idea' is the Feigenbaum fractal described above, but the article
didn't mention the fractal.
Grab It Quick! This handout describes
using my Grab* programs rather than TI Connect software to get calculator
screenshots into your computer application. It also describes creating and using
Word macros, and other useful graphics tricks to transfer images between your
calculator and your computer. See my IVIEW page or
Talk TI Software page for downloading the
Grab programs and IVIEW programs.
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T3 - Teachers Teaching with Technology is Texas Instruments' professional development program founded by Dr. Frank Demana and Dr. Bert Waits of The Ohio State University. We offer summer institutes, conferences, and workshops in the use of Texas Instruments' calculators and computer software in all levels of mathematics and science education. | ![]() |