Welcome to the Calculus Zone

(AP Calculus AB, Period A)
Web address shortcut for this page: www.modd.net/56calc

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.

 

T 5/16/06

Quiz on yesterday’s talk.

 

W 5/17/06

Guest speaker: Mr. Joe Morris of the MITRE Corporation will speak on the history of computers. This is a fascinating talk, covering many of the technologies that we take for granted today.

 

Th 5/18/06

HW due: Read Lessons from the Pentagon if you have not already done so.

Note: Today’s class meets from 8:00 to 8:40 and will be followed by assembly.

Late-breaking news: Class has been cancelled because of a fender-bender.

 

F 5/19/06

Quiz on Wednesday’s talk.

This is the last day of class. I know most of you (actually, nearly everyone except Baird, Bobby, Doug, and the juniors) still have a cut remaining, but it would mean a lot to me if you would come to class today. The period will be full length, because we had the Friday schedule yesterday.

 

M 5/22/06

Final Exam, Room R, 8:00 a.m. Seniors with fewer than 12 absences for the second semester are exempt. The format will be all multiple choice with a penalty for wrong guesses, but the exam will be graded on a curve.

 

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
-- 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: 21 May 2006