Explanation for the Fun tool programs:

Activities for Math Education Talk:
 

Open SeeLogo and click on lessons then choose calculus.

1. imagine that the moving box is a car that moves along the screen. The program is:

tmin = 0 tmax = 50 drawtime=1 scale=1

zzdist_time fun1
 

explanation: tmin,tmax mean the starting and ending times (like xmin and xmax on the TI-83) and fun1 is the function which is causing the movement according to the function fun1.
 

2. Click on fun1. and you will see the code: RETURN 2*t + 50. Translate this code to the usual notation: f(x)=________
 

3. Click on the program dist_timefun again and look for the current location of the turtle that it represented by the variables tx and ty (ty =0) what is the value of tx? ________ Write a logical explanation for this:________________________________________________________________________
 
 

4. Change the function fun1 to return t*t (y=x^2) and change the tmax to 10 instead of 50. What do you predict will be the final position of the car? _____

Test your hypothesis.

5. Is the rate by which the car moves the same all through the animation? _____ Find a function that represents the velocity of the car as a function of time. G(t)=_______
 

6. Change the function fun2 to return ______ (your prediction) and then click on the program speed_distance_time and make sure it says:

tmin = 0 tmax = 10 xstart = 0 drawtime=1 scale=1

zzspeed_distance_time fun2 fun1 (note that the first function (fun2 in this case) is interpreted to mean velocity while fun1 means distance (both as a function of time) did both cars move in the same way?
 

7. Change the distance function fun1 to Sinr(t) (r stands for radians since the default in seelogo is degrees). Use dist_timefun to animate it but you will need to change the scale to 170/1 to actually see the animation. (There are about 170*2=340  pixels along the small screen). To what will change tmax so that the car will return back to where it started? ______. Explain
 

8. Change the function fun2 to represent the velocity function of fun1 and test  your answer by  using speed_time_fun. Write what happened.
 

9. display the graphs of fun1 and fun2 using the graphfun2 programs. What were te values of tmin_____ tmax_____ ymin______ ymax_______?
 

10. What other functions do you know? Make up 2-3 examples of your own.

Which functions did you pick?