Starting Conic Sections

We are starting to study conic sections more formally than we did with problem set 9. We already know the equations for circles (because of problem set 9), now we will learn about equations for the rest of them (ellipses, hyperbolas, parabolas).

Day 1  Intro to Conics handout,  HW finish problems in handout
Day 2  Ellipses,  HW p.584/76 and p.592-3/23,25,35-45 odd, 51-57 odd, 60, 62-64

You should be able to peel the paper off your plaster cone this weekend and start smoothing.

The video directions the of Conic Project

Mrs. Mosca has put a video showing how to make the cone for your conic project onto YouTube.  If you search on LHS HA2 Cone Project you should be able to find it.  You can also go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfC8bkuTlew directly.  It is less than 5 minutes long.

If you forgot to get your plaster on Friday, remember to get it on Monday - you will only have lost a weekend to work on it.  You don't want to lose more than that.

After that quiz

After the [mostly] complex number quiz, we are working on word problems.  The first worksheet reviews zeros and solutions with quadratic functions.  This was Friday (G-Block) or Tuesday (A-Block). The second worksheet will be polynomial word problems.  This is Wednesday (A-Block) or Thursday (G-Block).

Things are getting a little mixed after this.  I will be explaining the technique of finite differences. I will be explaining the conic section project coming up (which will require you to make your own cone out of Plaster of Paris - materials will be supplied, bring in a dollar or two).  We will be reviewing.

Definite:  We will have a test on all of the quadratic/polynomial/complex/word problem material on Tuesday, January 27th.  Make sure you can do four pages of problems in 55 minutes.  (This means you have to be more fluent in the material than you have been for the quizzes.  Practice most efficient methods!)

If you did not do well (or not as well as you would have liked) on the complex number quiz, do the worksheet of drill problems.  That is your ticket to the retake.  If you have trouble with any of the problems on that sheet, ask me for help before doing the retake.  The point of the retake is to show me you know how to do the problems now.  It doesn't work if you still don't know how to do the problems.

Complex Number problems (and Polynomial notes)

After finishing up Lesson 2 of Unit 5 in the Course 3 book, we will be working without a book for a few days.  The first day is a packet with complex number problems and notes about the polynomials - not all of which have been discussed before. For homework you should try to get through problems 1-4.  (This assumes you finished the classwork problems.  If this is not the case, then you have more problems to do.)  Read over the notes so you are prepared to ask questions.  Please note that on page 5, problem 4, there is a typo.  It says that the leading coefficient is -10 but it should just say that the leading coefficient is negative.

The second day is two worksheets.  The first has quadratic notes (special polynomial notes for degree two) and thought-provoking, check-your-understanding-at-a-deeper-level questions. The second worksheet is practice writing polynomials in factored form from a graph with the zeros.  At this point, you should fly through that one.

On the third day we quiz.  It should be Thursday for both sections.

The next lesson in the Course 3 book

This week we are doing Course 3, Unit 5, Lesson 2.  Two days for Investigation 1, one day for Investigation 2

Day 1  Investigation 1 p.347/1-6  Finish the questions for HW if not done in class
Day 2  Investigation 1 p.351/7-9  HW p.357/A1-5; C10,11; R15-17; E20-22; Rv26-28
Day 3  Investigation 2 p.354/2-6  HW p.358/A6-9; C12-14; R18,19; E23,25; Rv30,31

Remember, it is important to do all of the investigation and homework problems because they expose you to ideas that I will be elaborating upon.  Next week we will review all the ideas and probably have another assessment.