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June 12, 2004
Introduction to Precalculus Web Site
By William Mueller. Provides an introduction to precalculus, using Mathcad or StudyWorks as a calculation and visualization tool.
Many interactive examples. Includes a section on "Are You Ready For Calculus." A well done site, explore!
Mr. C.
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May 14, 2004
1. The "Online Test Page" Web Site
This site offers free practice tests for the SAT and ACT. By Elias Saab, Professor of Mathematics
at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Added to "Practice and Puzzles" page.
2. Updated the Careers Page
Updated the careers page, also added some interesting colleges (like the Coast Guard Academy :-).
Mr. C.
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March 14, 2004 Happy Pi Day!
MathForum.org and SOSMath.com
These sites are so well done I put them on the first paragraph of the first page to make sure they weren't
missed among all the other links.
Mr. C.
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March 4, 2004
1. Link Fixes
Having settled in to a new home in Alabama, and after moving the Algebra 2 site to a new server, I finally got around to fixing
or removing some broken links :-). I also noticed that Flash 6 (and maybe 7) "broke" my "Dice Roll" program, I wil
see if I can fix it, it may have to to with an update to how Flash calculates random numbers, a truly difficult if
not impossible task if you think about it. Did anyone see the recent reseach that shows coin flips are
not 50-50? One reason for overlooking it in the past is not recording what side was initially up when the
coin was flipped. Watch those pesky details y'all :-).
2. Automatic Calculus and Algebra
Powered by "Mathematica", this site is very impressive. You may use it more when you get to Calculus,
by then there is no telling what it will do. Use the power wisely. I also added a link to Mathematica
on the Mathcad page (they are competitors) and cleaned up the outdated links on that page.
Mr. C.
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June 4 - July 16, 2003
1. Added Welcome
Added a welcome for Heritage Grove Middle School Students and a "Summer Math Help" page.
2. Trackstar
A site of links organized by topics. It includes several topics I created for the
2002/2003 year at Heritage Grove. To see these, choose "Find By Author" and enter
"Cantlin" in the search box. Also added a link to "Trackstar" on the "Supersites" Page.
Mr. C.
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November 22, 2002
1. Updated Links
Updated various links, thanks to JY for finding outdated/moved sites.
Mr. C.
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June 1, 2002
1. Updated Links
Updated various links, thanks to JY for finding outdated/moved sites.
2. The American Heritage Dictionary
A great online resource, includes an audible pronunciation example for each word. Added link to the
list of "Project Tools" on the Home page.
Mr. C.
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January 18, 2002
1. Eratosthenes Links
Updated Eratosthenes related links on the Ch. 13 page.
2. Careers Page Update
Deleted expired link on Careers page. Added link to
Careercc.com, a "careers portal" site.
3. How Stuff Works
Added link to "How Stuff Works" to "Science Related" sites on the home page. Very cool!
4. Golden Ratio
Added a Golden Ration "mini-lesson" to the site. Link is in the "Misc. but Cool" section
on the home page (or here!).
Mr. C.
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November 7, 8 and 9, 2001
1. Barnes and Noble Free Online Classes
Barnes and Noble is offering a nice set of free online classes. While there is no credit offered,
they look quite promising for introductory topics such as learning to program. The school is at
http://www.barnesandnobleuniversity.com/. I added a link on the home page too, under "Advanced
Courses." Check it out, you might take a Java course and get the author of a Java text book as a
teacher. A text book is recommended but that seems like a fair bargain, a free course if you buy
the book! As an added benefit, you will learn the strength and weaknesses of an online class. There is
even a class on finding the right career!
2. Geometer's Assistant Java Program
This free program might make your geometry constructions a little more interesting. It is called
Geometer's Assistant and is at http://library.thinkquest.org/17426. The instructions are self-
explanatory.
3. Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics
Added this great math resource to the list of math "Supersites." It was gone from the web for a long
time but it's back! Enjoy.
4. Eric Weisstein's Treasure Troves of Science
Added this science resource to the links on the Home Page under "Science Related" sites.
5. Geometer's Sketchpad Version 4 Just Released
The full featured student version is is available to individuals through Key Curriculum Press for only $39.95!
Mr. C.
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October 28, 2001
1. Links
Updated links to PHS, PSHS due to change of web address. Added link to MathPages.com
to list of math "Supersites."
2. M. C. Escher Mini Tour
Added an "M. C. Escher Mini Tour" for Geometry fun. The link to the tour is on the
home page "Misc. But Cool" section.
Mr. C.
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October 10, 2001
1. William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The Putnam Competition has been held since 1938. It is considered the premier mathematical competition
for colleges in the U.S. and Canada. Close to 3000 contestants from 400 colleges participate!
The competion is sponsored by The Mathematical Association of America. The degree of
difficulty of the math involved is extraordinary, but it is nice to see what fun the math
future holds!!The home page for the Putnam Competition is at: http://math.scu.edu/putnam/index.html.
2. Whatcom Community College Online Math Center
Added a link to the list of math "supersites."
3. Video
Added a "mini video" link on the home page, click on my name to view. I made it for my online
Geometry class but the IVHS server won't take Windows Media files (.wmv files).
Mr. C.
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August 24, 2001
1. 2001 Math Olympiad Site
A "International Math Olympiad" (IMO) was held in Washington D.C. in July, 2001. More than
80 countries were represented, there were up to six contestants allowed from
each country. The contestants must be no more than 20 years old and
must not have taken any college classes. All scoring is done by
individual contestant, not by country -- in other words you are "on your own."
The contestants are given 6 problems to solve in two days. Needless to say,
they are pretty tough problems! The problems and solutions are provided on the
web site. I noticed that one student (Liang Xiao from China) got all six problems right! The U.S students
have all provided some interesting biographical information so you can see what
they each like about math. One says that he does math whenever he is not sleeping! The first IMO
was in 1959 in Bucharest, Romania. The site is sponsored by Wolfram which
makes the math software program "Mathematica." This program is a competitor
to the MathCad by Mathsoft. It is very popular with Mathematicians. There is a
free reader for it (similar to Mathcad) that you can download and install if you
want to look at Mathematica files. You don't need it to enjoy this site.
The site is at: http://imo.wolfram.com/.
2. Mathematica
Wolfram's web site for Mathematica: http://www.wolfram.com/
Question: Why is the symbol for the element tungsten "W"?
3. Search Box
It was starting to get a little hard to find information on the Algebra2 Site so I added a
"search box" at the bottom of the Home page. Just enter a word, say Pascal, and a list of all
the pages on the Algebra 2 site that contain that word will be returned. Then you just click on the page
that interests you to go directly to it. ONLY the Algebra 2 site is searched.
Mr. C.
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August 16, 2001
1. Recommended Book
Sarah Flannery was born in Ireland in 1982 and as a 16 year old, won a prestigious science prize for work involving number theory
(Gauss' favorite branch of mathematics) and how it is used for "public key encryption" - the technique your secure browser uses on the web.
Her book is very clearly written and is very easy to follow, even though the topics are generally considered to be advanced math.
Highly recommended. Actually, I consider it more than "highly recommended" - it will become a "required reading" text for my future Algebra classes!
Details:
- Title: In Code: A Mathematical Journey.
- Author:Sarah Flannery.
- Published by Workman Publishing Company (May 1, 2001).
- ISBN: 0761123849.
- Hardcover - 384 pages.
- Cost: It is currently about $17 on Amazon.com.
BTW: after reading this book you will know why the last digit of its ISBN is 9.
2. American School Directory
Added link on home page under "School Related Info." to this massive directory of schools
across the U.S.
Mr. C.
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June 25, 2001
I just got back from a vacation to Alabama that included a visit to the Marshall Space Center in
Huntsville. A very cool place. My favorite exhibit: the Saturn V full-size replica (vertical) and
the real one on the ground (in stages). Highly recommended for students -- Spacecamp!!
There are several locations and programs, even a "fighter pilot" based program. The students
I saw at Huntsville looked like they were having a blast (no pun intended). Convince your
parents to send you, if not this summer then one summer before finishing high school.
Use the argument that the program includes a week's peace and quiet for them :-) Added a link
to Spacecamp.com to the "Misc. But Cool" section of the Home Page. I also recently attended a
workshop in Springfield about the Illinois Virtual High School. They are offering more courses this year (about 65)
than last year (about 16). Last year (2000/2001) was the first year for the IVHS (and it was only 1/2 year). You
can see it growing by the minute. You can take high school courses online that are not available
at your school. See the "Advanced Couses" section on the home page for more information. You might have
to gently "prompt" your school/district to participate, about 125 schools in Illinois currently are
participating. Since these classes are even open to "home schoolers" you can take them regardless
of your school's readiness. The knowledge is yours to keep! All you need is a browser and Internet
connection. They can be done completely from home, from school (computer lab), or both. Where else
could you take a high school Oceanography class in the Midwest?
Mr. C.
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June 3, 2001
Added a link to College Algebra Review - by S. Kifowit at Prairie State College to
the list of math "supersites." This site includes a review of all of the main concepts of a
college algebra course that may also be downloaded as an Adobe PDF file (so you could work on these
away from your computer). Also included: a glossary, practice and extra credit problems, reference sheets
(compare to your formula sheets), and JavaScripts for the Quadratic Formula, Logarithms, and to Generate Primes.
Added a link to the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences to the home page (under Interactive Math).
This is a neat tool, there isn't anything quite like it. Explore. Added a link to S. Finch's of Mathsoft's page of
"constants " to the list of math "supersites." More constants than you can shake a golden mean stick at!
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May 31, 2001
Added a new "Project 4 Page" link to the home page. To this "Project 4 Page" added links
to each formula sheet (PDF files).
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May 28, 2001
Added links to interactive trigonometric functions available on Manipula Math to the Ch. 14 page.
Added Kipling page and links to it, R. Burns, and Confucius on the home page under "Misc. But Cool."
Because "The longest journey begins with the first step."
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May 26, 2001
Added link to Plainfield South High School to the home page. Added a new page of links related to the
Logo programming language. Added a new page of links related to careers and the task of selecting a
college major. Added a new page of links related to "Honors Geometry" at PHS. Links to these new pages are on
the home page, the Logo page link is
under "Math Tools", the "Career" page is under "School Related" links, and the Honors Geometry link
is under "Advanced Courses.".
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May 18, 2001
Added link to a Thinkquest 1998 tutorial covering trigonometric identities to the Ch. 14 page.
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May 15, 2001
Added links to definitions of the period, amplitude and phase shift of a sine wave and to an interactive tool for
exploring the effects of changing A, B, or C in the expression Y = A*sin(BX+C) to the Ch. 14 page. Added
"oscilloscope related" links to the Ch. 14 page. Added links to
the Interactive Learning Network, Homeworkhelp.com, and Studyworksonline.com to the "Supersites" page.
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May 10, 2001
Added a link to the free Acrobat Reader software to the bottom of the home page.
Follow this link to download, then install the "reader" program.
Added a PDF file you can use to test your "reader" to the to the Ch. 12 page
(a technique for doing "word combination" problems that may help you on the Ch. 12 exam --
to encourage you to get the reader now!).
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May 8, 2001
Added a link to a simulator for the Lewis Carroll "Pillow Problem" (number 30 on page
750) to the Ch. 12 page. Added links to an interactive binomial probability
distribution applett and a random number generator to the Ch. 12 page.
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May 5, 2001
Added some additional information to the homework problem (Ch. 12-4, number 40, Page 736).
This information is linked to the Chapter 12 page and involves a fundamental property
of a triangle:
"The sum of any two sides of a triangle must be longer than the remaining side."
Why is this true? Hint: Geometer's Sketchpad is great for exploring this kind of question.
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May 4, 2001
Added link to the Chapter 12 page to a page with more information about a "dice"
homework problem (Ch. 12-4, number 40, Page 736).
Added link to "AMOF: The Amazing Mathematical Object Factory" to the Ch. 12 page. Explore
this site, especially the Combination Generator and the Permutation Generator. Use these
to visualize some of the examples and homework problems -- seeing the list of possible
arrangements will make some of these much easier to understand. You can't list millions
of arrangements but if there are less than about 200 objects these "generators" work
fine. Added link to a small Java permutation/combination/factorial calculator to the Ch. 12 page.
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April 26, 2001
Added link to an online tour of "Homer's Illiad and Odyssey" to the home page.
Reorganized the "Misc." links on the home page into "Science Related", "Advanced
Courses", and "Misc. But Cool" sections.
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April 21, 2001
Added link to "GoMath.com" to the "Supersites" page.
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April 16, 2001
Added link to The Math Forum's "Trigonometry Formulas" to the Ch. 13 page. Study this
for another explanation of how to solve triangles when you know two sides and an
angle (acute or obtuse) opposite one of the sides. Added link to "Mathgoodies.com" to
the "Supersites" page. Added new category of "Interactive Math" to the home page and
moved "Manipula Math" here. Added new link to this category for the National Library
of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Mathematics at Utah State University. There are
some nice interactive programs here that are really fun to explore...(hint)!!
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April 9, 2001
Added Snell's Law related links to the Ch. 13 page.
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April 6, 2001
Added Eratosthenes related links to the Ch. 13 page.
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April 3, 2001
Added link to a site for printing out your own protractor to the Ch. 13 page. Added
a link to a "protractor golf" activity.
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March 27, 2001
Added links to Pascal related sites on Ch. 11 page.
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March 22, 2001
Added link to Fibonacci biography on Ch. 11 page. Added a link to an interactive
Sierpinski Triangle site on Ch. 11 page.
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March 21, 2001
Added Maria Agnesi Tour, Conic Section Tour, and Circles Tour to the Home Page (under Projects).
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March 17, 2001
Added link to a "Greek Alphabet" site to the Ch. 11 page.
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March 14, 2001
Added links related to "Significant Figures" to the Ch. 11 page. The online "Significant Figures" quiz site is particularly nice.
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March 11, 2001
Added a link to a "Fields Medal Tour" to the "Projects" section on the Home Page.
Reorganized the "Project" links into "Projects" and "Project Tools" for clarity.
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March 10, 2001
Added link to the College Board's Advance Placement (AP) site to the "Misc" links on the
Home page. Added link to the Math Forum's "Ask Dr. Math" FAQ page about "e" to the Ch. 10
page.
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March 6, 2001
Added a biographical link for Napier and a link to an English translation of Napier's book on
logarithms to the Ch. 10 page. Added a section of "curve fitting" links to the Ch. 10 page.
Added a link to the "Linear Algebra Toolkit" by Old Dominion University to the Ch. 4 page, explore!. Thanks
to Laura Egly for finding this site. Added links to the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) to the home page
(under Misc. links). The IVHS is designed to supplement local schools, it is not a degree-granting high school.
All students should have access to the IVHS curriculum, regardless of whether they
attend public, private or home schools. However, students must be registered through a
local public school district. I think the the Illinois Math and Science Academy is currently
the closest registering school.
What a great way to complete some cool AP courses!! Also added a link to the State of Illinois E-Learning Portal, this
site has links to sites that are part of current state-wide "e-learning" initiatives. Other options
are online courses at junior colleges and colleges that you can take from home for college credit. These are growing
daily. Overall - these online options are amazing but are not organized so the research and initiative is up to
each student. And the options change overnight so keep looking!
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Feb. 24, 2001
Added a link to "Mathematician's Anniversaries" to the home page, site is
by the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Added "College Prep Quiz" to the "Practice and Puzzles" page (thanks to Mr. Swistak
for this site recommendation).
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Feb. 16, 2001
Added a link to "Physlink.com" to the home page under "Misc Links". It is
a very complete physics, engineering and science reference and resource site.
Added a biographical link for Maria Agnesi to the Ch. 9 page. Added links on the
Ch. 9 page to an interactive "Witch of Agnesi" site and to two large
"Special Curves" sites. These are great for exploring the properties and histories of
"cool curves."
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Feb. 6, 2001
Added "Puzzles" to the "Drill and Practice" page and changed the name/link of this page
to "Practice and Puzzles." Moved the Ole Miss Problem of the Week link to the new puzzles
section. Added link on the puzzles section to Alexander Bogomolny's Interactive
Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. This site also has a good description and proof of
Descartes Rule of Signs - a link to which was added to the Chapter 8 page. Added a link to
a short history of Descartes Rule of Signs to the Chapter 8 page.
Added ExploreMath.com's Activity "4th Degree Polynomial" and Jones' "Real Zeros of Polynomial
Functions" to the Chapter 8 page. Added link
to some nice graph paper available in Adobe PDF files (added to home page under "Math Tools").
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Jan. 7, 2001
Added a link to Clay Ford's "Curious and Useful Math" to the list of "supersites." Browse this site for
some really good tips for improving your mental math skills. I especially like the "Can
it Divide" section. Visit the "Word Roots" section to see why we use "m" for slope. Added
a link to ExploreMath.com's Conic Section page (on the Chapter 7 page of our site). This site uses
Macromedia's Shockwave (a browser plug-in) to provide interactive math pages.
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Dec. 18, 2000
Added links to AlgebraHelp.com, QuickMath.com and Studyweb.com to the list of "supersites."
Please explore! A good way to use the "automatic calculation" feature of the Quickmath site (or any other site with this feature) is to
use the computer to solve a similar problem to the one you are having trouble solving. Study the answer and
review the process used to get the answer. This may get you going again and avoids the obvious
problems that arise if you let the computer solve your problem for you. Added set of links
related to triangular numbers to the Ch. 6 page (reference problem 55, page 374). Added
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster Dictionary to home page for convenience (under
"Class Projects").
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Dec. 6, 2000
Added NASA's "The Planets" to list of "Misc." sites on home page. Deleted list
of "Key" math sites on home page for clarity -- go to the
"Links By Category" for complete lists of links. Explore these sites regularly, especially
the "supersites." It will be worth the effort! Added link to Argonne National Laboratory
Ask-A-Scientist Archive (Mathematic Topics, November 1991- Current) to list of "Supersites."
Added Manipula Math's Java Programs "Focus of a Parabola" and "Drawing a Parabola" to Ch. 6 page.
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Nov. 28, 2000
Added "Nine Planet Tour" and "Solar System Calc" to list of "Misc." sites on home page.
Added links to Cynthia Lanius' Fractal Lesson and Suzanne Alejande's
Interactive Fractal Lesson to the Ch. 5 page. Also added a link
to download "Double Fractal" -- a free, simple to use program for generating your own
fractals. Added biographical links to the Ch. 5 page for Cardano, Euler, Kepler, and Mandelbrot.
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Nov. 17, 2000
Added Ole Miss Math Contest to list of Misc. links on home page.
Added a ThinkQuest math site created by De Silva & D'Andreti
for the 1997 Think Quest Competition to the list of math "supersites." This
site has a lot of depth and some very good math tutorials. Please explore!
Rearranged some of the administrative information on the site to make it easier
to find (see bottom of Home page). A print-out of the daily schedule
of topics might help organize your portfolios (hint). Added link
to the Ch. 5 page for two mini-lessons on Perfect Square Trinomials. One is by TheMathLab.com
and the other is from a course at Midland Community College in Midland, Texas.
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Oct. 31, 2000
Added link on Ch. 4 page to Shodor's Interactive Box Plot - a very well
done site with lots of cool lesson plans.
Deleted link Weisstein's Math, site no longer available. Added Shodor's
Education Foundation web site to list of "supersites."
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Oct. 19, 2000
Added link to the Misc. section of the Home Page to The ChessKids Academy.
This site in Great Britain is a good starting point to learn chess
and for improving your game even if you already know the basics. The
logic, mental discipline, problem solving skills, and concentration required
to play chess are directly applicable to math (and vice versa). Thanks
to Laura Egly for finding this site.
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Oct. 14, 2000
Added Ch.3 link to a short tutorial that explains Isometric Drawings and
a definition of Isometric Drawings from the online Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Oct. 13, 2000
Added Ch.3 link to a Manipula Math "live" "three axes" graphing tool. This
can help you visualize exercise 3-7B we did in class today.
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Oct. 5, 2000
Added Ch.3 link to a lecture by Dr. Mary Jean Winter at MSU on Systems
of Linear Inequalities, it takes 17 minutes and you need the RealPlayer
browser plugin.
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Oct. 3, 2000
Added link to a "Greatest Integer Function" at Manipula Math on the Ch. 2 Page. Included
is a link to a biography of Gauss. Added link to Institute and Museum of History
of Science in Florence, Italy to the "History and Bio." page -- this site has a superb online Galileo Exhibit. The
Torricelli tour is worth a visit too, particularly since our recent blood pressure/units of
pressure discussion. Added Cramer's Rule link to Ch. 3, the Basics of Matrices to Ch. 4.
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Sept. 29, 2000
Added link to a "Project Help" site on the home page. As stated at the
bottom of the site's home page the site was created by school librarians,
Phyllis Humphrey and Connie Malinowski, East Greenwich, RI School
Department as part of the Model Classroom Initiative sponsored by the
Rhode Island Foundation and the Gates Foundation. Added link
to the Inspiration Software home page, this software is a good tool
for organizing your thoughts, it may be available on the school's computers
too.
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Sept. 27, 2000
Added link to the Illinois Learning Standards For Math on the home page.
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Sept. 26, 2000
Added additional background information to Project 1. Added definition of
asymptote with link to math glossary on Ch. 2 page. Added link to
"The Most Common Errors in Undergraduate Mathematics" by Eric Schechter at
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee on the Math Drill and Practice
page.
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Sept. 21, 2000
Added a linear regression exercise to Chapter 2 to replace the graphing
calculator exercise 2-5B on pages 101 and 102 of the text. Redid this exercise
to work with the TI-83 Plus, it uses the data set from problem 2 on page 102 and adds
a hand calculation of the best fit line. Note: this exercise was done in Mathcad
and the web pages output by Mathcad look OK in Microsoft's Internet Explorer
but are not very good if you are using Netscape's browser. I think you can get through
it using Netscape, I'll provide a printed version for your notes. Hopefully Mathsoft
will release a more compatible conversion program at which time I'll repost this exercise.
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Sept. 20, 2000
Added link to class projects on home page. Added Project 1, Chicago Snowfall
Prediction. Added another linear regression link
to Ch. 2 (uses Shockwave).
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Sept. 18, 2000
Added link in Ch. 2 to a slope calculator (uses Shockwave) and a linear regression (least squares) demo (uses Geometer's Sketchpad).
Added biographical links in Ch. 1 for Hero, Descartes, Eratosthenes, Euclid, Al-Khwarizmi,
and Diophantus. Added Math Journey and QUIA to list of drill/practice sites. Added ExploreMath.com
to list of "Supersites." Added link to "Graph Paper Printer" on Home Page (Miscellaneous).
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Sept. 17, 2000
Added new local page for Mathcad. Provided links for downloading Mathcad
Explorer and links to Mathcad resources on Mathsoft's web site.
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Sept. 15, 2000 ~ Part 1
Added "web assignment" to see who is paying attention to detail! There
are three "function" sites on the Chapter two page, be prepared to discuss
these Monday as follows: First Site - MD, Second Site - JP, Third Site - JY.
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Sept. 15, 2000 ~ Part 2
Added categories for "More Links", included a menu for these on the home
page also. Added a new "More Links" category for drill and practice sites. Added new Chapter 2 links.
Added "What's New" page, that's what's new!
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