Lesson 3

Part III (Introduction to Geometry, continued)

This is the most exciting part! You will be amazed by what you can do.

1. Opening a Geometry Window within the Main Window

2. Dragging a Triangle to Main

drawing a triangle

3. Dragging a Triangle back to Geometry

What you just did can be thought of as Analytic Geometry!

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) developed a new branch of mathematics for everyone to enjoy called Analytic Geometry. Analytic Geometry can be thought of as a branch of mathematics that brings together algebra and geometry in a very beautiful way. It allows us to visualize numbers as points on a graph, equations as geometric figures and geometric figures in an algebraic form. Rene Descartes would have loved the ClassPad! If only we had the ClassPad 400 years ago.

Part III


Practice Exercises

  1. Open the Main application and clear its window.
  2. Insert a Geometry window and clear its window.
  3. Click inside the Geometry window and then click three times.
  4. Draw an infinite line (look in the draw menu).
  5. Select your line (not the points) and release.
  6. Press near a selection handle and drag it to the Main window. Wow, the equation shows!
  7. Get a screen capture and paste it into your Lesson3 document (under a title of PART III).
  8. In Main, press EXE. On the next line, type in: 2x + 3y = 1 and press EXE or Enter. Select the result and drag it to the Geometry window. Did a line draw?
  9. Get a screen capture. Add two blank spaces following the first screen capture and paste this one.
  10. In Main, type in y = x^2 -1 and press EXE or Enter. Select the result and drag it to the Geometry window. Did your equation graph?
  11. Get a screen capture. Add two blank spaces following the second screen capture and paste this one.

Part IV

Written Exercises

Copy and paste the following questions into your Lesson3 document. Answer each question using a complete sentence or sentences.

  1. What happens to the toolbar when we select a figure from the Draw menu?
  2. How do you get to the Measurement box in Geometry?
  3. What does it mean when the button is highlighted?
  4. Who discovered Analytic Geometry?

Reflection Exercises

You have just completed the third lesson in ClassPad 101. Geometry is great, and we will use it a lot in the future. Please take a few moments to copy and paste the following three questions at the end of your Lesson3 document and answer them.

  1. Approximately how long did it take you to complete this lesson?
  2. Which activity did you enjoy the most?
  3. Did you find any part of this activity difficult to follow? If so, which part? Also, how did you overcome the difficulty?

Assessment 3: Introduction to Geometry