Welcome to the Calculus Zone

(AP Calculus AB, Period D)
Web address shortcut for this page: www.modd.net/45calc

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 (see archives for older entries) Written assignments should follow the HW guidelines.

M 5/23/05

Final Exam, Room S, 11:00 a.m. Bring calculator, spare batteries, and several sharpened pencils. Also bring your 50-point Final Quiz if you have not already submitted it. “Required” Situation: The final exam is required for students whose second semester average is below 80% (B). I will contact those people to let them know that their attendance is required. The exam will count as 20% of the semester average. “Optional” Situation: If you wish to take the exam as a way of boosting your grade, you must let me know by midnight on Sunday, May 22, so that I know how many additional copies to make. (In that case, I will count the exam score only if it helps your average.)

Essential Links:
-- College Board: AP Calculus AB Course Description
-- Eric Weisstein’s World of Mathematics, the Web’s most extensive mathematics resource (no kidding!)

Extra Help:
-- Karl’s Calculus Tutor for first-year students
-- Calc101.com, a site I really shouldn’t tell you about (click it and you’ll see why)
-- Temple University: Calculus on the Web (COW)

Links Based on Class Discussions:
-- Troy’s Integral Approximation Thingy: a neat JavaScript application for Midpoint Rule, Trapezoid Rule, Simpson’s Rule, etc.
-- Another integral approximator tool found by John S. (actually shows you the rectangles or trapezoids)
-- Chris and Andrew’s proof that Simpson’s Rule is a weighted average of the Midpoint and Trapezoid Rules
-- Braxton’s direct proof of FTC2
-- Proof that FTC1 implies FTC2 and conversely
-- Related rates tutorial and practice problems
-- Partial fraction decomposition with many sample problems and solutions

Links for AP Preparation:
-- Real sample AP questions from the College Board
-- AB Calculus Cram Sheet (courtesy of Will Felder and Mr. Hansen)
-- BC Calculus Cram Sheet from previous years
-- “Stuff you MUST know cold” (link to another AP calculus teacher’s site; requires Adobe Acrobat reader)
-- Review question logsheet (requires Microsoft Excel)
-- Permitted features for graphing calculators on the AP examination: you’ll definitely want to print this one out
-- Alvirne H.S., Hudson, NH (great site!)
-- Actual college calculus tests from Mr. Hansen’s alma mater (great practice!)
-- Multiple choice practice #1 with answer key
-- Multiple choice practice #2 with answer key

Fun Links:
-- Homemade “Segway”-like balancing scooter uses a fair amount of calculus!
-- Mathematicians as depicted in the movies (Good Will Hunting, etc.)
-- 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 astonishing Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe algorithm for calculating pi to any desired decimal 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:
-- Summer math camps for talented high school students
-- Click here for other serious links

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Last updated: 22 May 2005