I used spreadsheets last semester in Business Math and wish all of my
classes had access to spreadsheets. The graphing calculators are great but
some things spreadsheets do much better. Students can pull in large
amounts of data and analyze the data much easier. They can also save their
files. Learning how to put things in cells using formulas teaches students
a lot about
mathematical symbolism.
More specifically, I would have students use spreadsheets to analyze
demographic data--easily obtained from the U. S. Census Bureau web site,
explore wind chill data--the formulas are interesting. The formulas may be
linear or quadratic, depending on which parameters are held constant.
Certainly any Business application makes a good problem--inventory,
amortization schedules, annuities, total sales on differently priced items.
I hope you share some of the specifics that you use.
Martha
----------
> From: SYRILDA MILLER <SYMILLER@ECLIPSE.NET>
> To: mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu
> Subject: [MATHEDCC] spreadsheets
> Date: Monday, January 19, 1998 11:03 AM
----------
> From: SYRILDA MILLER <SYMILLER@ECLIPSE.NET>
> To: mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu
> Subject: [MATHEDCC] spreadsheets
> Date: Monday, January 19, 1998 11:03 AM
>
> I am a high school math teacher interested in working on introducing my
> students to spreadsheets.
>
> My question: "What topics are appropriate for high school math classes
> utilizing spreadsheets when Graphing Calculators are also fully
> accesible?"
>
> So far I have learned how to do trendlines and use solver on Excel. I
> am willing to spend the time to learn anything that would be good for my
> students.
> I plan to try it out in my precalculus class first and expand to
> Algebra II and Calculus. I currently use Graphing Calculators in all
> three classes.
> I think I will introduce trendlines in Pre Calc after we have finished
> the units on choosing an appropriate mathematical model from the list of
> functions we have studied this year ( poly. rational, radical,
> exponential, log, inverse , etc). I would approach it with the idea that
> Excel can do the same work in choosing an appropriate function but has
> the advantages of a better end product presentation--printer
> capabilities ,etc. It is used in business and elsewhere, therefore
> they are more likely to encounter its use rather than the graphing
> calculator after graduation from college.
> I think that spreadsheets and high school math belong together as much
> as graphing calculators do. There does not seem to be a lot of this
> going on. It may be because of a lack of availability of a sufficient
> number of computers to the average high school math teacher.
>
> Syrilda
>
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