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Week 12 Interactive geometry (April 2 - 8)


This week, I would like to invite you to look at the IGS (interactive geometry software) called GeoGebra, and to network in the thriving international community of people who love GeoGebra. You can relate GeoGebra to most of your content themes, such as early algebra, shapes, measurement and so on.

The software is powerful, but intuitive. I love the clear tooltips that appear when you hover over tools. As I told my math club members this week, "It's like having a virtual Euclid hold your hand while you explore geometry." Having said that, the task will require some web searches for resources, as well as learning an environment that is new to some of you - do budget several hours for it.

TASK

  1. Download GeoGebra and play with it a bit in a relaxed manner: http://www.geogebra.org/cms/
  2. Explore other people's projects, for example, from these collections:
    http://www.geogebratube.org/

    http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/Mathematics+and+Multimedia
     (nice starting tutorials)
  3. Create a project and share it with the GeoGebra community by clicking File-Share from the menu. Animated projects are always interesting, but some static constructions can be gorgeous as well.
  4. Link your project in a comment to this task. Briefly describe your GeoGebra experiences. Share some thoughts on how dynamic geometry software can change the way you teach and the way your students learn. Would you offer the software to students? Would you use it yourself to prepare demonstrations?

Task Discussion


  • Carolyn   April 16, 2012, 5:24 p.m.

    I had some issues with Geogebra and downloading it, for whatever reason it does not want to download on my computer. I did however take a look at the site and look at other people's projects. I feel like I would have had some of the dame issues that Keisha had talked about where she said it was similar to Scratch in that it was a little confusing at first. If that is the case I probably would have had to watch the tutorials and use and "help" icons that the site provided. 

    I think Geogebra could be a great tool used in the classroom. With much of the new technology that is being created all the time it is hard to comb throw all of it and find some that is worth using int he classroom. However I think Geogebra, after learning how to use it, would be a tool that students and teachers could use. In my exploration of the different projects I found just as many science projects as math. Although the two are closely related I haven't seen many sites like this one that facilitate both. Therefore I think that as a teacher you could use Geogebra as a math tool but also for science lessons in chemistry or electricity or anything that needs to be graphed or illustrated mathematically. 

  • Laura Haeberle   April 15, 2012, 10:39 p.m.

    This project took me a bit of time, simply because I wanted to really give it enough time to explore. I started off with some tutorials, but got impatient towards the end. Being in this online course has really showed me that I love testing things out to learn how they work! So instead, I started messing around with the controls and seeing what looked cool. Honestly, I based most of my picture off of my artistic side, without really trying to creat something in particular. At first, I tried makin a heart of some sort, but then I just had more fun working with the individual tools. 

    I think this would be great for children of any age. I think I focused most of my own creation off the attitude of young elementary school children. For them, you could just allow them to play with the program and create something intricate and creative. Children would simply be using the tool as another medium for art. For older children, you could investigate different math functions and how they appear. Even with high school students, it would be helpful to have a visual representation. I could definitely see myself using this in my class. You could pre-program and save examples, and work with them during the class period. Here's what I created!

    http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m7940

  • Keisha   April 9, 2012, 12:10 a.m.

    Whwn I first opened up Geogebra Iwent through the same confusion as I did with Scratch. I had no idea where to start or what to do. I was really confused about what to do with this program. I'm not quite sure that I understood what the task is asking. Here is what I created though. It's about finding the slope of the line. I used sliders so that you're able to change the slope and the y-intercept. If this is not what we were supposed to do can someone help me please.

    http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m7535

  • Maria Droujkova   April 10, 2012, 7:20 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Keisha   April 9, 2012, 12:10 a.m.

    Keisha, this is a part of what you were supposed to do. The goal of this task is to introduce GeoGebra as a tool, and as a community. When you first start playing with the tool, as you say, it's always confusing. That's when, theoretically, we can proceed to Step 2, that is, seek help from the community:

    "Explore other people's projects, for example, from these collections:
    http://www.geogebratube.org/

    http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/Mathematics+and+Multimedia
     (nice starting tutorials)"

    I think your applet would work quite nicely as an introduction to linear functions!!!

    What do you think about the tool, so far? Here are some questions I had:

    "Briefly describe your GeoGebra experiences. Share some thoughts on how dynamic geometry software can change the way you teach and the way your students learn. Would you offer the software to students? Would you use it yourself to prepare demonstrations?"

  • Carolyn Lesser   April 8, 2012, 8:49 p.m.

     

    I had fun with this program but I was pretty confused on how to make any sort of program. I have no previous experience with any programs like this but I watched some of the tutorials which were helpful. I tried to make something more complex but I started to struggle so I just made a really simple project. It is just a simple polygon. It is a nice way for students to play around with the polygon to see how many ways you can change it while still keeping a polygon.  I am going to continue to play around with it and see what else I can do. I think this site could be a really great way to teach math on the computer and could be very interactive!

    http://www.geogebratube.org/material/show/id/7531

  • SandyG   April 4, 2012, 9:11 p.m.

    After playing around with GeoGebra, I was immediately struck by the way it could be used to bring art into the classroom.  I played around for a little while and found myself coming back to making different pictures... and it was FUN!  I can think of many ways to use this in the classroom.  I can create pictures, and I could have my students create pictures.  This sample picture I made could be used either as an individual or a team activity.  I could use it as a fun bell ringer or even as an extra credit positive reinforcer by asking for guesses for how many triangles there are.  Students could use crayons or colored pencils to outline or fill in.  It is a non-stressful activity that still focuses on shapes.

     

      http://www.geogebratube.org/material/show/id/7369

  • AliQ   April 3, 2012, 12:02 p.m.

    It's about algebra:

    http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tebyan.net%2Fnewindex.aspx%3Fpid%3D107615

     

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tebyan.net%2Fnewindex.aspx%3Fpid%3D106248

     

    I have created several interactive math activities with GeoGebra in Persian language.

  • Maria Droujkova   April 6, 2012, 8:46 a.m.
    In Reply To:   AliQ   April 3, 2012, 12:02 p.m.

    Hi Ali,

    The links don't work. Maybe you can just link us the Persian version, and we can translate it using these or other tools on our end?

  • AliQ   April 6, 2012, 8:53 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Maria Droujkova   April 6, 2012, 8:46 a.m.
  • Maria Droujkova   April 6, 2012, 9:14 a.m.
    In Reply To:   AliQ   April 6, 2012, 8:53 a.m.

    Beautiful work, Ali! Thanks for sharing! The content of the first post a bit advanced for most traditional elementary curricula. However, I believe with tools like GeoGebra younger kids can definitely explolre these ideas. 

    "Drawing a perpendicular" (the second task) is curious. Normally, young kids don't understand what the big deal is about RIGOROUS constructions with straightedge and compass. They can just estimate their perpendiculars, close enough, and call it a day. 

    In GeoGebra, though, if you simply estimate directions, the construction completely FALLS APART if you animate it or drag it around by any point or line! However, if you construct the picture using axiomatic tools, it does not fall apart. Perpendicular lines stay perpendicular when you move things around. Even young kids appreciate this very much! 

    I have been using this feature of GeoGebra to help young kids appreciate AXIOMATIC constructions. They really, really get it, and love it. Powerful stuff.