Sketchpad 4 Summit

Kingston, Ontario

May 14-15

Sketches for the grades 9-16 group (led by Peter and Nick)
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Sketches: EstimatingCircles.gsp Archimedes' estimate of circle circumference (as the convergence of the perimeters of inscribing and circumscribing polygons); and an estimate of circle area by rearranging sectors of the circle into a rectangle. This example started model-building discussions in Session C.

Author: Nick Jackiw

Session A
Focus: Algebra & Graphing
Theme: Activities starting with pre-made sketches

Sketches: Session A.gsp. Agenda and sketches for the first session, including function plotting with sliders and parameters, and a Sketchpad version of Goldenberg & Lewis' Dynagraph idea, which introduces function concepts (functional dependence, rate, domain, range, composition, etc.) interactively.

Author: Nick Jackiw & Peter Maher
[Microsoft Word]
 Session B
Focus: Geometry & Measurement
Theme: Activities based on handouts where you "start from scratch"

Document: Maximum Area.doc Guided construction example of an investigation of possible areas for fixed perimeter rectangles

Author: Peter Maher
Session C
Focus: Calculus/Advanced Algebra
Theme: Building your own mathematical models with Sketchpad

Sketches: SessionC.gsp Including model notes for Newton's method, advanced Newton's method extensions, and more possibilities for exploring functions or iterations

Author: Nick Jackiw
[Microsoft Word]
 Session D
Focus: open (participant's choice)
Theme: Building your own Sketchpad activities

Document: DevelopYourOwn.doc Suggestions and recommendations for engaging and meaningful Dynamic Geometry activity design

Author: Nathalie Sinclair & Judy Dussiaume

Peter and Nick also showed and shared many other sketches outside of the main participant activities of each sessions. These sketches are anthologized in the "Peter's Misc" and "Nick's Misc" folders of the GSP4 Ontario Summit CDROM.