Category: Assignment Instructions (Page 2 of 5)

Comment due April 7

You may have heard that we will have a solar eclipse in the afternoon on Monday, April 8. Solar eclipses don’t happen all that often, so this is pretty special. While New York City is outside the path of totality (where the moon will totally block the sun), we still can expect the moon to cover about 90% of the sun.

It is very important never to look at the sun during a solar eclipse… doing so can severely damage your eyesight!

In anticipation of the solar eclipse, you’ll complete a short activity to help you understand the geometry of solar eclipses.

Watch the short animation above and the two short videos linked here. Then on your own piece of paper, set up and complete the three tables in the Modeling an eclipse section here. You’ll need:

• 1 sheet of 8.5 x 11 graph paper
• 2 disks approximately the size of a quarter, one to represent the Sun and one to represent the Moon at perigee
• One disk approximately the size of a nickel, to represent the Moon at apogee
• Pencil
• Ruler

After you have completed the activity, record your results in a comment below (state at which points (si, mj) where a total or partial solar eclipse occurs). Then include answers to reflection questions like:

1. Have you ever completed an activity to understand solar eclipses before? Did this activity help you understand why we sometimes have solar eclipses and sometimes don’t?
2. Are you familiar with the difference between solar eclipses and lunar eclipses?
3. Do you plan to try to see the eclipse on April 8? Do you have a plan to protect your eyes?
4. Do you have any funny or interesting stories about seeing an eclipse?
5. Can you imagine what it would be like for a person living in an ancient civilization to experience a solar eclipse? How do you think they would have felt?

Comment due Sunday, March 31

Background

“I’m bad at math.” This is something I’ve heard from a handful of students (in different classes) over the last few years. It’s devastating to me to hear anyone say this about themselves… let alone my own students, but it’s very common to feel this way, especially around exam time.

Test #2 will be given in class Monday, March 25. The format will be similar to the format of Test #1.

Recall from Test #1 that Question #1 asked you a series of conceptual true/false questions where you had to justify your answer. Question #2 asked you for a series of examples of mathematical objects (mostly functions) satisfying certain conditions.

To prepare for Test #2, for this week’s OpenLab assignment, you will comment on this post with two questions that you come up with yourself, as well as their answers.

1. Your first question should be conceptual and phrased as a statement which is either always true or always false. Your answer should indicate whether the statement is true or false together with a sentence explaining the answer.
2. Your second question should be asking for an example of a mathematical object satisfying certain conditions. Your answer should provide this example together with together with a sentence explaining the example and why it satisfies the conditions.

You can use the Test #1 questions for inspiration (the different versions of the tests had similar questions, so check out your classmates’ solutions—when they appear—for the other versions).

Try to focus on the material covered in class since Test #1. You can see the list of topics on the schedule.