Welcome to the HappyCal Zone
(Honors AP Calculus BC, Period A)
Are you nervous when you see NCWEE? concerned when you see CIRC? perturbed when you see PBC? Visit Mr. Hansen's fabled abbreviations page to make sense of those cryptic markings you see on your papers.
Schedule at a Glance (click here for the overall schedule) |
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M 5/7/01 |
Optional Practice AP Examination, 7:50 a.m. sharp (please be seated by 7:45). This will count as a test and a half (i.e., 150 points), and attendance is required for Scott Morgan. For everyone else, attendance is optional. Some of the reasons you might wish to attend the second exam are (1) extra practice, (2) a chance to do better than on May 1-3, or (3) a way of bypassing the final exam. |
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T 5/8/01 |
Day of Rest. Class is optional, but please feel free to come by to clear up any remaining Islands of Uncertainty. Keep working 45 minutes per night on AP exam preparation, but remember that your first priority is sleep. I would rather see a HW log sheet with skimpy problem coverage and adequate sleep than the other way around. |
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W 5/9/01 |
Day of Rest. I will be unavailable during A period because of an emergency dental appointment. However, please feel free to meet with me after school. |
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Th 5/10/01 |
AP Examination: 8:00 a.m. sharp starting time. Please come well rested, and remember to review your Cram Sheet one last time. Bring pencils, calculator, and spare batteries. |
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F 5/11/01 |
Day of Rest. |
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M 5/14/01 |
HW due today: AP log sheet. |
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T 5/15/01 |
No class. Field trip to the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, MD. Board bus on service road near gate at Garfield St. before 8:45 a.m. We will be back by about 1:00 p.m. |
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W 5/16/01 |
Day of Rest. |
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Th 5/17/01 |
HW due today: §9-9 #3-30 mo3. |
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F 5/18/01 |
Last day of class. Scott Morgan will be taking an AP Latin exam, but the rest of us will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m. We have an ambitious final day covering §11-4: first and second moments, centroids, and center of mass. |
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F 5/25/01 |
Final Exam, 11:00 a.m., Trapier Theater. Anyone with a second semester average of 80% (B) or above is exempt. (Note that this is more generous than the STA standard policy, which usually applies only to seniors.) Also, anyone who took both versions of the practice AP exam is exempt, even if the second semester average is below B. |
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Essential Links:
-- College Board: AP Calculus Main Page
-- Form V Test/Paper Schedule for 2000-01
Links Based on Class Discussions:
-- Integral Approximation Thingy: a neat JavaScript application for Midpoint Rule, Trapezoid Rule, Simpson's Rule, etc.
-- Related rates practice problem (not hard, but nicely structured, with step-by-step programmed help if you make a mistake somewhere along the line)
-- Limaçon of Pascal (with adjustable parameters)
-- Partial fraction decomposition with many sample problems and solutions
Links for AP Preparation:
-- Cram Sheet (courtesy of Will Felder and Mr. Hansen)
-- Alvirne H.S., Hudson, NH (great site!)
-- Temple University: Calculus on the Web (COW)
-- Karl's Calculus Tutor for first-year students
-- Actual college calculus tests from Mr. Hansen's alma mater (great practice!)
-- College Board: AP Calculus Main Page (same as the link you saw above under "essential links")
Fun Links:
-- Mathematicians as depicted in the movies (Good Will Hunting, etc.)
-- National Cryptologic Museum, brought to you by the NSA (No Such Agency)
-- An Algebra II problem that has a calculus flavor to it. (This is problem #26 from §11-7 of Foerster's Algebra and Trigonometry: Functions and Applications.) The problem is to determine which sweepstakes prize is better: a $20,000 lump sum or $100 a month for life. Assume 4% annual interest compounded monthly. In part (d), the challenge is to determine how the answer changes if the interest rate changes to 7%.
-- The Mt. Sinai problem and two variations
-- The amazing Banach-Tarski Paradox, which apparently permits any sphere to be cut and reassembled into two spheres, each having the volume of the original sphere
-- The equally astonishing digit-extraction algorithm for calculating pi to the gazillionth place
-- Sound wave analysis (harmonics, Doppler shift, etc.) / excellent site developed by students at TJHSST in Virginia
-- Good problems (some calculus, some not)
-- More fun links on Mr. Hansen's home page
Serious Links (click here)
Return to Mr. Hansen's home page
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Return to St. Albans home page
Last updated: 24 May 2001