tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78817822011-04-21T22:35:23.546-05:00This blog is designed for students of Mr. Ryan's algebra and precalculus classes to keep them updated with news pertaining to class.Brucenoreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1127262450833141202005-09-20T19:24:00.000-05:002005-09-20T19:27:30.840-05:00

...on my faculty homepage, or you can get Program #1 here and Program #2 here.There are lots of cool variations you can work with.If you'd like to challenge yourself, see if, after having the user input the quantity bought and price bought and selling price if you can create a program which tells the user a) how many products he needs to sell to make a profit of 0 or better (called "breakeven")

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1123946564228681222005-08-13T10:16:00.000-05:002005-08-13T10:22:44.456-05:00

This is one for the Precal guys, particularly those of you who have filled out a tax return before. If you haven't filled on out before, it's not something to look forward to. On the other hand, some things in life are unpleasant, but you still have to do them: a valuable life lesson.Link found via Isabel's Math Blog.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1122957964276156542005-08-01T23:44:00.000-05:002005-08-01T23:46:04.276-05:00

I almost forgot about it myself. :)It's now scanned on my website in case you never got one or lost yours.It's due at our first class meeting, so now's the time to get at it.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1104702865991305362005-01-02T15:53:00.000-06:002005-01-02T15:54:25.993-06:00

...this site is pretty cool. It traces out all of the possible computer moves as it thinks about how to beat you.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1104638366575592452005-01-01T21:58:00.000-06:002005-01-01T21:59:26.576-06:00

I expect that all of my students who want Gmail (Google Email with the 1GB storage capacity) have already received an invitation, but if you haven't and want one, e-mail me and I'll pass them along while supplies last (I have 3).

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1104513740296051692004-12-31T11:16:00.000-06:002004-12-31T11:22:20.296-06:00

Algebra students: You'll want to check out this site, Skoool. It's from Intel, and they've created versions for the UK, Ireland, and Sweden (not the USA). If you click the Skoool link here and scroll down to #29, you'll find a good lesson on algebraic fractions and even some tests to make sure you get it. If you explore the page, you can also find some lessons to help you with other things we

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1103862052554923562004-12-23T22:20:00.000-06:002004-12-23T22:20:52.553-06:00

A cool global history of zero.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1103660573258230482004-12-21T14:20:00.000-06:002004-12-21T14:22:53.256-06:00

This is a cool blog entry from Kuro5hin on John Napier, a 17th century mathematician who shows cool ways to do binary arithmetic on a chessboard. Check it out!

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1102789199882735252004-12-11T13:17:00.000-06:002004-12-11T12:19:59.883-06:00

It's here on my website in PDF Format or here in HTML. E-mail me if you have questions.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1100817562155967332004-11-18T16:38:00.000-06:002004-11-18T16:39:22.156-06:00

Here's some info on the test. It should also clarify the discussion we were having at the end of class. E-mail me if you have any questions.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1100364420492245182004-11-13T10:41:00.000-06:002004-11-13T10:47:00.493-06:00

I don't know if Silly Putty means anything to you guys, but it was a very cool toy we had back when I was a kid. It's this ball of sticky stuff and you could do all sorts of stuff with it. One of our favorites was spreading it on to a newspaper and pulling it up, revealing a copy of the image (it pulled the ink off the paper) that you could then stretch and distort. Now, there's even cooler

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1100364705208003582004-11-13T10:30:00.000-06:002004-11-13T10:51:45.206-06:00

I don't have the vocal stamina of the legendary Mr. Matthews (my voice is shot this morning), but it was an honor to yell "Go Owls!" at last night's football game. If you missed it, you missed a heroic effort by our guys. Start making your plans to go to Nashville to root them on there!

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1100301412225879262004-11-12T17:30:00.000-06:002004-11-12T17:26:00.550-06:00

If you're ahead, you're even. If you're even, you're behind. If you're behind, you're toast. -- R.P. LaCivita Famous sports producer and all-around smart guy In its original context, this advice pertained to TV production, but it applies equally well to academics. If you feeling like you're not keeping up, come see me before you become toast. :)

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1100301738402122352004-11-12T17:18:00.000-06:002004-11-12T17:24:53.346-06:00

At the request of my Algebra students... A strange rally chant from old MUS (courtesy of Scott Stevens)... Flea Fleasta Cumelada, cumelada, cumelada vista Oh, no, no, no, not the vista Eenie-meenie, ex-a-meenie, oo-wadda-wadda-meenie and so on... Does it make any sense? No. But it was fun all the same. GO OWLS!!!!!

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1094687488612130402004-09-08T18:49:00.000-05:002004-09-08T18:51:28.613-05:00

Tomorrow's test is divided into two sections. The first does not allow the use of calculators, but the second does allow them (though I'm not really sure they're necessary). So, for those of you who like that warm, secure feeling that a TI calculator provides during a test, feel free to bring yours tomorrow. See you there!

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1094687347821598922004-09-08T18:43:00.000-05:002004-09-08T18:49:07.820-05:00

Tomorrow is the introductory meeting for the 2004-2005 Lower School Math Team. Most of you probably think of this as "Mathcounts", but I want to change the name for a couple of reasons. First, as those of you have participated in this before know, the group does more than just Mathcounts. We do Continental Math League, as well, and this year we're looking into participating in another

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1094686951736535712004-09-08T18:42:00.000-05:002004-09-08T18:42:31.736-05:00

OK, for a brief respite from mathematics I'm going to try and e-mail a post to my Math Blog. For those of you unfamiliar with Blogging, usually you have to log on to your blog to edit and create new posts. Now, logging on to e-mail isn't really much easier, but it would allow me to create posts from my cell phone. I'm not sure that's all that useful, but it seems pretty cool to me. Now let's

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1093263517474232852004-08-23T07:16:00.000-05:002004-08-23T07:19:24.763-05:00

You can always e-mail me a question, and I'll either respond personally, or, if it has general relevance, respond to it by posting here. Don't forget that asking questions not only helps you learn, but also adds points to your grade! So don't leave those questions unanswered; send me an e-mail.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1093263188098025902004-08-23T07:10:00.000-05:002004-08-23T07:13:08.100-05:00

It looks like Ole Miss is having trouble getting their Problem of the Week started this year. Since I like the Math Forum Problem of the Week better anyway, we'll do the Math Forum POW for extra credit each week (the link is under Algebra to the right). Turn in your solution to Math Forum not to me, and if your name shows up on the list of correct answers, you'll pick up an extra bonus point.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1093224627307130172004-08-22T20:28:00.000-05:002004-08-22T20:30:27.306-05:00

There's a link under the Precalculus section (with a check next to it) that features cool Java animation showing you how you get the sin and cosine curves from the unit circle. I'm going to talk about this more in class, but this is a great reference. Oh, the site is Japanese, so don't look for too much written explanation. :)

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1093121597641164102004-08-21T15:50:00.000-05:002004-08-21T15:53:17.640-05:00

I'm sure you're as happy as I am (since it's tough to read the scanned pages -- sorry! I still haven't found a good balance between readability and giant files that take forever to download. I continue to work on the problem. I also have an apology -- they came in Friday, but I forgot to distribute them. Oops.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1092496827369522112004-08-14T10:19:00.000-05:002004-08-14T10:20:27.370-05:00

Mr. MacMillan has told us that the Precalculus books have been reordered and should arrive on Tuesday. Since our first class session isn't until Wednesday, this should be fine, but I will notify you if there are further delays.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1092264111621241732004-08-11T17:39:00.000-05:002004-08-11T17:41:51.620-05:00

If you use My Yahoo, you can now add RSS feeds to your customized My Yahoo page. What does that mean? It means that you can subscribe to this Math Blog (and whatever other weblogs you like) and if there's any new postings, you'll see them on My Yahoo without having to go to my website or to this blog. If you need help getting it set up, please let me know.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1092261919220601302004-08-11T16:59:00.000-05:002004-08-11T17:37:36.106-05:00

No word yet on an arrival date. You can get them from the publisher, Key Curriculum Press, but it's probably not worth it to do so. We'll figure out a way to get the necessary text in your hands until the books shows up.

Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881782.post-1091833975053342202004-08-06T18:11:00.000-05:002004-08-06T18:12:55.053-05:00

This weblog (blog) is designed to allow my students to keep up with news related to math class. By subscribing to the site's feed, you can automatically get updates from this site. If you have feedback on how this could be made more useful, please e-mail me.

Brucenoreply@blogger.com