Free Dynamic Mathematics Resources 2. Straight Line Graphs Welcome Welcome to the second Autograph Newsletter! Each jam-packed edition will look at a specific topic in mathematics and how Autograph can help engage students and enable them to understand the key concepts better. Hope you enjoy it! Craig Barton Advanced Skills Teacher, creator of www.mrbartonmaths.com and TES Secondary Maths Adviser. Follow me on Twitter: @TESMaths Contents Introduction Diagnostic Question Free Online Autograph Activity Ideas for Extension Video Tutorials Handy Autograph Tip Introduction I tend to find that students have a lot of difficulty with the topic of straight line graphs. Perhaps there is something rather abstract about the concepts involved that students cannot relate to. Or, maybe it is the sheer number and complexity of the skills required – reading algebra, substituting, rearranging formula, dealing with negative numbers, understanding co-ordinates – that throws up any nasty misconceptions or weaknesses that students may have and renders them unable to get to grips with the topic as a whole. Again, I feel dynamic geometry has a significant role to play in improving the teaching and learning experience. You are able to instantly manipulate things to tackle students' questions or in response to their answers, and there is something rather satisfying for students in having a computer validate their efforts. Hopefully you will find lots of useful ideas and resources for aiding the teaching and learning of straight line graphs below. Diagnostic Question Diagnostic questions are ideal to use at the start of the lesson to enable you to get a quick and accurate picture of your students' levels of understanding. They are designed in such a way that common misconceptions that your students may hold should steer them to one of the incorrect answers, thus allowing you to learn where the problems lie from their responses. Typically I give my class 30 seconds thinking time and then ask them to hold up their fingers: 1 for A, 2 for B, etc. Free Online Autograph Activity Battleships Can you use your knowledge of straight line graphs to sink more ships than your opponent? These Autograph activities do not require the full version of Autograph to run them. You just need to install the free Autograph Player (you will be guided through how to do this), which means you can use these activities in the classroom or set them for your students to do at home. Ideas for Extension The following ideas for extending the topic of straight line graphs require the full version of Autograph. Click on the image to download the individual Autograph files. Idea 1 – Using Co-ordinates Download  1-using-co-ordinates.agg Can your students move each of the four points to co-ordinates that fit the following patterns: • The x co-ordinate must be 4 • The y co-ordinate must be −3 • The x and y co-ordinates must be the same • The y co-ordinate must be twice as big as the x • The x and y co-ordinates must add up to 5 • Can your students come up with an algebraic way of describing each of these patterns of dots? • When your students are ready, test their predictions by turning on Slow Plot mode and enter in the relevant equation Idea 2 – Move the Points Download  2-move-the-points.agg Move the points around and see how the equations of the two lines change. Find pairs of equations which: • Are in the form "x = a number" • Are in the form "y = a number" • Have the same number in front of the x • Have the same number at the end • Have one positive and one negative number in front of the x • What do you notice about the two lines in each of these cases? Idea 3 – Constant Controller Download  3-constant-controller.agg Use the constant controller to manipulate the values of m and c. The line y = x is used as a reference. • What effect does changing m have on the line? • What happens if m is negative? • How about if m is zero? • What effect does changing c have on the line? • What happens if c is zero? • What can't you get a vertical line? Idea 4 – Perpendicular Lines Download  4-perpendicular-lines.agg Move the circled points around and keep an eye on the equations of the two perpendicular lines. • Write down the gradients of the two lines and then move the points to a new position • Keep writing down the gradients using the Scribble tool • What is the relationship between the gradients of perpendicular lines? • Test out your theory on a few more examples • Does this relationship still work for horizontal and vertical lines? Video Tutorials The following video takes you through, step-by-step, two different approaches to investigating straight line graphs using Autograph. Handy Autograph Tip Sometimes points on Autograph can be a little tricky to see, especially on a whiteboard/projector when viewed from the back of the class. But have no fear – we can highlight them nicely with some lovely little circles! Open Autograph in Standard Level Place a point somewhere on your page Make sure the point is highlighted, right-click and select Circle (Radius) from the menu. Your choice of radius will depend on your scale, but 0.2 tends to work well most of the time. You can now drag the point around to your heart's content by clicking on the centre of the point A nice finishing touch is to add a text-box to keep a record of the co-ordinates of the highlighted point Curriculum Coverage Not teaching straight lines today? No problem, Autograph covers much more including statistics, probability, graphing, vectors, coordinate geometry, shapes and transformations, numerical methods, cartesian equations, parametric equations, polar equations, differential equations, calculus, trigonometry and all in two- and three-dimensions. Douglas Butler's series of 7 Autograph Tutorial Videos provide a perfect overview of curriculum coverage. Free Autograph Activities If you need free Autograph Activities that can be used without Autograph installed try Mr Barton's Autograph Activities. Getting Started If you are just getting started with Autograph try the Video Training Series and the Training Manual with step-by-step instructions. Worksheets Autograph trainer Alan Catley has created an impressive collection of student worksheets which can all be downloaded and used for no charge. Video Tutorials Watch videos by Craig Barton, Douglas Butler, Hassan Lakiss and Janet Smith. Past Newsletters Read other newsletters in this series by visiting the newsletters page. Books Prefer printed material? Download sample chapters from the Autograph Activities books. Courses and Trainers If you prefer face-to-face training attend a training course or book a trainer to come to your school. Be Inspired Been using Autograph for a while and looking for new ideas? For inspiration try Owen Elton's Matheminutes blog, and the blog from Autograph's creator Douglas Butler. Jonny Griffiths has three resources sites which make use of Autograph: Rich Starting Points for A Level Core Mathematics, Making Statistics Vital and Carom Maths. More Resources A complete list of useful websites can be found on Douglas' TSM Resources website. You can find many of these resources on the Autograph TES page. Keep in Touch Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Watch us on YouTube Find out more about Autograph Chartwell-Yorke Mathematics ICT, Belmont Village, Bolton, Lancashire, BL7 8AL, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)1204 811001 Fax: +44 (0) 1204 811008 Email: orders@chartwellyorke.com Unsubscribe from this newsletter | Subscribe to this newsletter