Geometry assignment; Jan. 14

We spent time in class today reviewing for the final.  The focus today was on chapters 3 and 4 involving parallel lines and congruent triangles.  Once we went over a few problems together, the students then had time to work in class on their review packets.


Assignment:  Finals review packet #2

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Geometry assignment; April 25

After turning in the review assignment for Chapter 11, we took the test on Chapter 11 today in class.  There was an extra credit opportunity for the students to work on at the end of the test if they chose to.

Assignment:  extra credit opportunity

Algebra 10-12 assignment; March 26

We went over our homework and previous check quiz from the day before.  We also then reviewed a couple of problems dealing with multiplying polynomials before the students got started working on their review sheet.  At the end of the period, the students then took their final polynomials check quiz before correcting their review sheet.  The test on multiplying polynomials will take place tomorrow.

Assignment:  Multiplying polynomials review sheet

Geometry assignment; 9/11

We went over several angle addition homework problems before getting started on today's lesson.  Today's topic focused on several postulates and theorems in geometry.  We demonstrated these together with some fishing line, bobbers, and cardboard planes while taking some notes on the postulates and theorems.  We will use these ideas more and more as the year goes on.

We then got started on our homework assignment before leaving class.


Assignment:  section 1-5;  page 22;  WE 29, 31, 33, 34;     page 25  WE  #5-12 all

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We introduced the second method of working with systems of equations today:  solving by substitution.  We will be working on substitution for the next few days with both systems of equations that we are given and systems of equations that we create using word problems.


Assignment:  section 7-2 in book;  page 384-385;  #5, 9, 11, 13-15, 34, 36

Algebra 10-12 syllabus

Algebra  10-12 Course Syllabus

Mr. Landers                                            toby.landers@rsd.edu  Room 2602                                                                            967-6500

Course Description:

Algebra 10-12 is year-long entry-level math course that students can receive high school credit for.  The prerequisite for this course is that a student has already made an unsuccessful attempt to pass algebra 1.  The class covers Algebra standards set by the state and district.  At the end of the course, the students will be able to take an end of course (EOC) Algebra exam that can fulfill a graduation requirement for the Richland School District.

Course Overview:

ü  Introduction to Algebra / Review

ü  Integers and Rational Numbers

ü  Equations

ü  Inequalities

ü  Exponents and Polynomials

ü  Polynomials and Factoring

ü  Graphs and Linear Equations

ü  Systems of Equations

ü  Inequalities and Absolute Value

ü  Rational Expressions and Equations

ü  Radical Expressions and Equations

ü  Relations and Functions

ü  Quadratic Equations

ü  End of Course Review

Course Goals and Mastery Levels:

ü  Students will achieve mastery (80%) of the above concepts and pass the class.

ü  Students will achieve a passing score on the EOC exam.

ü  Students will be prepared to successfully go on into Geometry

Course Materials  (to bring to class every day)

ü  A notebook and paper, including graph paper  (3-ring binder with sectional dividers)

ü  Ruler, pencils, and erasers; 

ü  If tests and quizzes are done in pen, however, there will be a 5% deduction.

ü  Calculator and textbook.

In-Class Expectations

ü  Eating and drinking is not allowed in class, unless the liquid is water.  I do allow gum in class, provided it is not seen or heard.

ü  Electronic device policy:  If I see it or hear it, I collect it and you get it back at the end of class. 

ü  Phones are not to be used as calculators in this class.  If you need a calculator, you can borrow one.

ü  All tardies are recorded and handled by the office.  Be in your seat when the bell rings.

ü  Keep the language positive in your conversations with and about others.  No swearing please.

ü  The desks are clean.  Please keep them that way by not writing on them. 

ü  Respect others by listening well and responding appropriately when they are done speaking.

ü  During partner work time, work and share the responsibility with who you are working.

ü  If you’ve got a question or comment, please raise your hand and wait to be acknowledged.

ü  Use your class time well.  Use the class-time that I give you to get started on your homework.

Be ready to work every day!  Math is a doing sport!  It is not a spectator sport!

Grade Calculation:

Tests: Tests are worth 50% of the grade.  There will be a test given at the end of each chapter and at the end of each semester.  The semester test will be worth the equivalent of two regular test scores.  Any student absent from class is expected to make-up the test upon returning.  It is the responsibility of the student to arrange a make-up time with the teacher. 

Quizzes:  Quizzes are worth 20% of the grade.  Quizzes will be given on a regular basis throughout each chapter.  Any student absent on the day of the quiz is expected to make-up the quiz upon returning.  It is the student’s responsibility to arrange a make-up time with the teacher.            

Homework:Homework is worth 30% of the grade.  You will grade your own paper in class before turning it in.  Papers turned in with no name will receive no credit for that day’s homework. 

Late Policy:  Homework assignments turned in late will receive a 50% deduction.  Assignments turned in over a week late will not be accepted.  Late is after we collect the assignment at the beginning of class.

Grading Scale

93-100  à  A              83-86   à  B               73-76   à  C                           60-66  à  D

90-92    à  A-             80-82   à  B-              70-72   à  C-                            0-59  à  F

87-89    à  B+            77-79   à  C+             67-69   à  D+                        

Retesting Policy

A student can ask to retake one test per semester if they so desire.  The highest score that can be earned on a retest is 85%, and the grade on the retest is the one that will be recorded.  It is the student’s responsibility to ask for and arrange a time to retake the test with the teacher. 

Absences

è If you are absent, you have that number of days plus one to make up your work.  If you are gone 1 day, you have 2 days to get the make-up work turned in.  If you are absent 5 days, you will have 6 days to get the make-up work turned in.

è Students are required to get work ahead of time for planned absences.  This includes all school activities and sports.  Failure to comply will result in a late assignment.

è If there are extenuating circumstances, please communicate these with me as they come up.

Online Communication

I post a blog on a regular basis of the ongoing assignments for this class.  It is listed under the geometry heading on the blog.  This information is also communicated in the classroom. 

Blog site address:                    LandersmathHHS.blogspot.com

Regular (almost daily) homework is a part of this class, so keeping up with the assignments and knowing the schedule is a key part of success in Algebra 10-12.   

Be ready to work every day!  Math is a doing sport!  It is not a spectator sport!

Be ready to work every day!  Math is a doing sport!  It is not a spectator sport!

           

Algebra 10-12 Course Syllabus

2014-2015

Top Five Keys to Success:

 

#1 :  Be prepared with materials and homework each day you come to class.

#2 :  Listen well and take good notes.  You get credit for doing this.

#3 :  Be ready to work every day!  Math is a doing sport!  It is not a spectator sport!

#4 :  Use your class work time well.  Get a great start on your homework each day!

#5 :  Be respectful of each member of our class (their opinions, efforts, and equipment)

Final Note:

I am looking forward to having you in class.  If you or your parent/guardian have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me using the contact information above.

Please sign the lines below indicating you have read and understand the above requirements and expectations of Mr. Landers’ Algebra 10-12 class. After reading the syllabus (student and parent), please detach this second signature sheet and return it to me in class.  This is the first assignment of the year.  I will check to see that this has been signed. 

_______________________________          _____________________________________               student signature                                                parent/guardian signature                                 

This syllabus is also posted on the website for the class assignments. 

èLandersmathHHS.blogspot.com

If you would like a copy emailed to you, just contact me via email and I will be glad to send you a one.

è toby.landers@rsd.edu 

Algebra 10-12 assignment; 9/11

We spent the bulk of the period working on a review activity that involved solving several problems posted around the room.  We corrected these review problems at the end of the period before turning them in.  The students then got started on their chapter review problems in preparation for tomorrow's ch. 1 test.


Assignment:  Chapter 1 wrap up;  page 47-49;  #17-57 odd

Sunday Morning Meds--Destiny

“If the LORD delights in a man's way, 

he makes his steps firm.” Psalm 37

Thus saith the NIV.

The rough logic of verse 23 of Psalm 37 is not that difficult to understand:  when—if, even—the Lord likes what he sees in a person, he’ll give the guy or gal a break. Sounds fair. That’s the kind of God I can deal with. He’ll love us if he determines we’re worth his investment. I can deal with that.

Listen to this: “The steps of a man are established by the Lord,” says the New American Standard; “and he delights in his way.” Or how about the KJV: “The steps of a good man are ordained by the Lord, and he delights in his way.”

Seems a whole lot different from the NIV. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the gap that separates the translations, you could float a whale of a difference. In the NIV, something reciprocal is occurring—“you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” That kind of thing, as if God almighty is shopping for a used car—kicking tires, checking mileage, looking for dings. If he likes what he sees, he buys. It’s that simple.

In the King James, God isn’t shopping. He’s turning out human beings, setting them on a charted course, and watching them go exactly where he’s determined they would, as if, in a way, he were spinning tops. But even that’s a lousy analogy because, once spun, the top-spinner has no idea of direction. Maybe he’s like one of those folks who love model trains. Get the cars out of the box, assemble the tracks, and let ‘em go.

What seems unmistakable in the KJV and New American Standard is that God knows where we go, when we stand, and when we stoop, our ups, downs, and all arounds. What’s more, he delights in watching it happen, in seeing what he in fact determined. He loves to watch us circle around the tracks he’s laid.

That’s a whole different God from the one looking for used cars—or so it seems.

What’s at the base of the difference is a pair of contrary ideas that are not arcane, ideas that have puzzled human beings for centuries, and prompted a whole lot of folks to walk right out of church: Are we free, or is everything about us pre-conceived, foreordained, predestined? Good folks, brilliant theologians, learned scholars have and will continue to disagree, I’m sure, as do—obviously—the linguists who work as bible translators.

Who’s right? Good question, and worth considering.

But what did the poet/King say? Where would he come down? What did he intend? And which translation, pray tell, is accurate?

Those questions don’t bother me a great deal because the passage is, first of all, a song. It's not an academic paper or theological treatise. Psalm 37 is all about comfort, about feeling rest and peace in the Popeye arms of the One who made us and who never ever leaves.

In the very next verse David will admit he’s an old guy, a fact which may well be key to our accepting the sheer joy of this line’s thickly upholstered comfort. I’m probably about as old he was when he wrote the song or offered the meditation, and I think I know why he wouldn’t care for the debates this kind of verse might incite. 

All he wants us to know is that when he looks back on his life—all of his life—he knows for sure that the God who breathed his own breath into the child who would shockingly become King of Israel, that God would never ever leave him alone. 

That God was there always, and will be, forever.  That's the comfort of verse 23.

No matter how you read it, is far less a proposition than it is a promise.

Our story and how we tell it

I remember feeling the same thing in South Africa, in Pretoria, when our hosts rolled up in front of a impressive museum designed to celebrate the sheer glories of Afrikaaner history. We were there not long after apartheid ended, officially at least. The wicked witch of racism was dead, people claimed, and the country--or so it seemed to us--was on a honeymoon. There was a palpable sense that at long last things would now somehow improve. South Africa was invoking the name "Mandela," as if it were a song.

The trekker museum--I don't remember it's name back then, and it's been changed since, I'm sure--was an immense, classical structure. What we'd already witnessed and felt was the sheer power of the Afrikaaner heritage among white and Dutch South Africans. Youth organizations celebrated the triumphs of the story--little kids were little trekkers.

But then, the Dutch South Africa story is incredible--and it is ancient, Dutch folks having arrived early in the 17th century, when they also put up shop in New Amsterdam here in North America. To think of the Afrikaaners as Dutch is, after all, a stretch.  Hundreds of years of trekker ancestors have been buried in South African soil.

There we were, out front of this massive museum dedicated to telling the really improbable story of the triumph of Dutch South Africans, who, against all odds, had forged a society, a culture, a way of life, even a language, in a place where their presence had been violently opposed, not only by the indigenous people they dispossessed, but also by snobbish, well-heeled Brits who fought them wherever they could find them. The trekker story is worth telling, worth remembering.

But in the new South Africa it became, suddenly, part of a much larger story. In the new South Africa, it would be told in a different way. That huge museum didn't simply require a face lift, it would need a transformation.  It had a different context altogether when apartheid ended. I was looking at an artifact, and I knew it.  That grand museum would no longer feature the Dutch.

Last week, at the National Homestead Monument, just outside Beatrice, Nebraska, I felt something somehow similar, not because change was in the air but because telling this American "trekker" story--and it too is an incredible saga--is something that simply can't be done without a broader context the monument itself tries very well to do. 

Millions of Americans today have descended from American trekkers who, like my own ancestors, came to this country for liberty, an "empire of liberty," Jefferson once dreamed. They came to live, not cower; they came to claim a new life, not wither slowly away in a land where the horizon was a stone fence.

There it stands, this Homestead Monument, in the shape of a plow that, at once, ripped up an entire ecosystem, altered prairie like no other place on the continent has been altered; yet, at the same time, the plow created a bread basket not only for those who broke ground but for hungry people around the world. That plow was as much an instrument of death as it was of life; and homesteading, which brought millions of Americans to what they thought of as unoccupied land, created untold opportunities at the very same time it destroyed hundreds of indigenous cultures and thousands of its people. 

It's an incredible story, it's the American story, it's our story, it's my story. But those who are in its cast are not superheroes. They're human, like all of us; and their story is much, much larger than their own indomitable pioneering strength. To my own ancestors, the land was free, unoccupied. It simply had to be "proved up." All land ownership required to make it ours was buckets of sweat and blood. All it demanded was work, and, for most of the American trekkers, hard work was an inheritance, even a calling. Here there was good rich earth to be subdued.  

It wasn't easy, not for my ancestors or the Afrikaaner trekkers. Life was no push over.

But when we came, those who were once here left. That's the big story, the story that's much harder to tell and much harder to hear.

Right about here, just down the hill from the memorial building, sits the very first registered homestead in American history. 

It belonged to only one family, two generations, the ranger told me. But they weren't the first inhabitants. There's a bigger story.

And that story is ours too.

Geometry assignment; March 12

After going over homework, we took the chapter 9 quiz in class today that covers section 9-1 to 9-4.  After the quiz, the students got started on their homework.

Assignment:  Section 9-3 practice WS;  #1-7 all  (one side);  #1, 3, 6  (other side)

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Algebra 10-12 assignment; March 28

We went over our polynomials test today before working on a problem solving activity during our shortened periods.  The students did not have an assignment over spring break.

Assignment:  none

Geometry assignment; May 29

We spent time reviewing line equations and the midpoint formula before going over our homework today.  The bulk of the time was spent working on a review sheet for tomorrow's test.  The answers to the review assignment appear below.  Test on Chapters 13-14 tomorrow.

Assignment:  study the review guide;  Review assignment
Transformations packet

Page 567  #1-9 all, 15-23 all


1.  XY = 4 radical 5;  YZ = 10;  XZ = 2 radical 5
2.  XY squared + XZ squared = 80 + 20 = 100 = YZ squared
3.  center (-3, 0);  radius = 10
4.  center (5, -1);  radius = 7
5.  (x + 6)squared + (y + 1)squared = 9
6.  -1/4
7.  -19
8.  examples:  (1, 3), (2, 8), (-1, -7)
9.  0
15.  (4, -3/2)
16.  (-1, 0)
17.  (0, b)
18.  (-11, 11)
19.  line on graph passes through (0, -3) and (2, 1)
20.  line on graph passes through (4, 0) and (0, 2)
21.  (2, 1)    used elimination process on two equations in 19 and 20
22.  y = 4x + 7
23.  y = 2x + 4


Translations Rules
7.  T (2, -1)
8.  T (-1, 1)
9.  T (1, 0)
10.  T (1, -3)
11.  T (-2, -1)
12.  T (0, 4)

Reflections Rules
7.  R (over y = 2)
8.  R (over y = -x)
9.  R (over x-axis)
10.  R (over x = -3)
11.  R (over y-axis)
12.  R (over y = x)

Rotations Rules
11.  Ro (90 degrees clockwise)  or 270 degrees counterclockwise
12.  Ro (180 degrees clockwise)    or 180 counterclockwise
13.  Ro (180 degrees clockwise)  or 180 counterclockwise
14.  Ro (180 degrees clockwise)  or 180 counterclockwise

Ministrations

"The worst part of travelling is the toilets," my father would say as he wheeled off the tissue in two long, thin stripes, then shaped them neatly 'till they haloed the throne of some highway restroom, sat me down firmly, and waited. "Never can tell who sat here before."

He was, of course, quite right--just wasn't at all like home on those tall, hard stools with the gap in the seat. I knew even then that his blessed layer of paper kept me safe from gluttonous germs just waiting to feast on my innocent fanny.

Eighteen years later, when I'd become so much wiser than he, I simply refused to dress stools like my father, sure that his excessive tidyness was a course in bigotry designed to make clear that human beings had sinful behinds; it was that cursed total depravity rearing itself once again, keeping young Calvinists like me fearful of loving and trusting and being a brother.

Then, years later, a father myself, I'd wait for my son while his eyes scanned scribbles I was thrilled he couldn't read on chalky bathroom walls. When the task was over, he'd get off by himself, eyeing those oddly incredible drawings, and I'd peel off a tangled white stripe stuck to his pudgy behind.

Well, wouldn't you know? Turns out I was right when I was a mop-haired, late-sixties pseudo hippie, at least according Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who claims my dad's sweet fatherliness was quite unnecessary since whatever hungry germs he thought waiting for me on the lid were, in fact, incapable of finding a place on my toddler's behind. 

I'm not making this up. And I'm talking to you, Dutch-America.

Those blessed paper liners one finds in well-tended public restrooms today exist only because of a toilet's inherent "ick" factor, or so he claims, because most of us--my family especially--are blessed with substantially secure and bountiful flesh on our bottoms.

Please. This isn't just my lame attempt at potty humor.

Turns out that your cutting board--that's right, that one in your very own kitchen--hosts a 200 times larger collection of fecal matter than that truck stop toilet seat. Schaffner claims the sink sponge you use for dishes is really heavy-laden, 200,000 times worse. Pardon my eeeeeuuuwww.

Here's the really bad news: whatever germs may be on that foreign seat, he says, are likely already aboard your keister. Think of it.  No don't.

Anyway, that's the news from an actual Professor of Preventative Medicine, at Vanderbilt, no less, the Harvard of the South. Look it up.

Well, I for one don't buy it, and pardon my skepticism. On this one, I'm solidly Republican. What the heck does science know anyway? 

It's all a scam.  Listen! They're the ones who told us to stop eating butter. 

Algebra 10-12 assignment; Jan. 23

We spent another day working on solving systems of equations by graphing.  Today's emphasis was to convert into slope intercept first before graphing.  We also took a look at what parallel lines and overlapping lines do in terms of solutions for systems of equations.

Parallel lines have not solutions, while overlapping lines are the same line and have infinitely many solutions.

Assignment:  Solving systems by graphing worksheet #2

Best Burgers

My son-in-law, who grew up in California, can barely get off the plane before stopping at In-N-Out for the kind of luscious burger he claims he can't get even close to out here in beef country. He's even got t-shirts, multiples. I've tried those burgers and they're good; but I think he and the rest of the In-N-Out mob are just cultists. 

I haven't had a Big Mac for a long, long time. But for years I've loved 'em. I guess I just don't do the McDonalds thing much anymore, except when I'm on the road and really need fast food. Then, I get snack wraps. Still, I like Big Macs. I doubt they've changed. I could stop today and pick one up--no problem.

No matter. In a poll just now conducted by Consumer Reports, McDonalds burgers ended up on the trash heap--seriously, dead last. In-and-Out, by the way, was waaaaaaaaaay up there, but in second place. Sorry, son, but your burger got bested. (That'll have him in a rant for the rest of the day.) 

There are times when I'll pick up a Whopper from Burger King because I'm in the mood for what seems the closest I can come to a Subway/hamburger combo. I like Whoppers. Always did. They're like taking a bite out of the garden. Just don't eat 'em without a bib.

Outside my window, through our backyard and over the soybean field, all the way to the other side of the river, there's enough beef on the hoof to keep us in steaks and burgers for the rest of our lives--Angus, too, or so it looks to me, a dozen or so left to pasture on the river bank. What we see out our window is landscape; those beefy black cattle out there for the last week have turned it into a sweet still life.

This is beef country. Well, this is pork country too. And we do very well with dairy, as long as I'm on a roll. Not bad lately with chickens and eggs either--which came first I don't know.  Ag is big business here, keeps the merchants and non-profits cheerful, the fields military-straight, and puts new houses up all over the section. Ethanol doesn't hurt either, of course. We're doing well. 

There are nay-sayers, of course, those who claim that too blasted much of this region's blessed rich topsoil is given to beef cattle to satisfy the world's deplorable burger habit. They're probably right, but who wants to take on the financial titans, right? 

I confess. I love a burger--Whoppers, Macs, and even the ones served up from the new kid on the block, Culver's, a place close to my heart because it's headquartered in the land of the cheeseheads. Culver's call theirs "the Butterburger" because if you want a real Badger state burger or brat (we invented brats, by the way; once upon a time they all came from Johnsonville), you bathe a hard roll in butter before slapping on the patty. Try 'em--Culver's Butterburgers--one word.

Top of the heap, you ask? What burger is really King and not just a trade name?  Consumer Reports asked their subscribers, and they said it belonged to yet another California chain--The Habit Burger Grill. Never heard of it. Never had one. But next time I'm in the state with the bear on the flag, I'll stop. Count on it. Looks like this.


Sheesh. It's now just after six in the morning. I confess--if I had one here beside me in the basement, it soon wouldn't be, despite what it might do to my stomach this early.  

HOWEVER, my favorite--think no ill of me!--is our own. They're not for sale. I got a grill I don't take good care of. It's ancient and so greasy it's off limits to public viewing. We've got wholesome beef from a local farmer whose business isn't business. When I slap one of our own on a wheat bun from the Dutch Bakery downtown, southern Cal's pride-and-joy gets shuffled to the back of the bus, although on a good day I still might swap for a Sheboygan County double brat (but only on a hard roll).

So, Consumer Reports, that's my two cents worth, straight from the heartland, from a place as likely as any to be called hog heaven. Bottom line or top of the heap--I like mine best. 

Geometry assignment; Feb. 21

We went over our homework together and reviewed ideas of how to use a scientific calculator in finding tangent ratios.  The main topic of the notes today was working with word problems and setting up diagrams involving trig functions.  We also looked at a few more shortcuts involving special right triangles.

Assignment:  Tangent ratio worksheet +  page 308-309;  #13, 19, 21

Geometry assignment; May 19

We went over our homework today before beginning the next topic.  Today we reviewed how to graph and calculate with two different forms of linear equations.  The line equations we reviewed were the slope intercept form and the standard form of a line.  Both of these topics were covered in algebra, yet also apply in dealing with coordinate geometry.  The students got started working on their assignment towards the end of the period.


Assignment:  section 13-6;  page 550-551;  written exercises #1-24 all

Geometry assignment; Feb. 24

We introduced the sine and cosine ratio today in working with right triangles.  The ratios complete the trig functions that we can use to solve any right triangle.

Assignment:  section 8-6;  page 314-315;  #1-14 all

Geometry assignment; Jan. 23

We spent today continuing to work on similarity proofs.  We also went over a few word problems involving diagrams and similar triangle proportions.

Assignment:  Similar Polygons worksheet +  page 259  #23, 25