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IntMath Newsletter: Free resources, derivative from first principles

By Murray Bourne, 31 Mar 2011

30 Mar 2011

In this Newsletter:

1. Free resource: Study Tips from Cornell University
2. Have your say - how should math education be changed?
3. Free resource: Space Math @ NASA
4. Derivative of square root of sine x by first principles
5. GeoGebra is part of Google Summer of Code 2011
6. Lesson idea for order of operations
7. Final thought – enthusiasm

1. Free resource: Study Tips from Cornell University

Suitable for: Students

Work smart! Many students are very inefficient when they study. Here are some good bits of advice.

See all the resources here: Cornell University Study Skills Resources

2. Have your say - how should math education be changed?

Suitable for: Students and teachers

Here's an interesting opportunity and something interesting to do over the up-coming summer break.

Elev8ted was "a site for students to upload 2 - 3 minute videos that:

  • Inspire others to transform eduation
  • Offer new choices for what education could be
  • Propose specific actions you or others can take to improve education in your community"

So what are your ideas on how can we improve math education? Students, here's your chance!

Update: Unfortunately, the site no longer exists.

3. Free resource: Space Math @ NASA

Suitable for: Students and teachers

So how is math used in the "real world"? Here's an institution for whom math is vital - NASA. There are articles about the recent earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan.

Curriki

Space Math @ NASA

Do a search on "math" when you get there. You will find topics like:

Black Hole Math | Earth Math | Image Scale Math | Lunar Math | Magnetic Math | Radiation Math | Solar Math |

4. Derivative of square root of sine x by first principles

Suitable for: Students of calculus. Several readers asked how to differentiate trigonometric functions from first principles.

Derivative from first principles - trigonometry

Here's how to find the derivative of √(sin x) from first principles.

Derivative of square root of sine x by first principles

5. GeoGebra is part of Google Summer of Code 2011

Suitable for: Students

GeoGebra and Google Summer of Code

This is an interesting summer project - write some math-related software for Google!

GeoGebra is part of Google Summer of Code 2011

6. Lesson idea for order of operations

Suitable for: Teachers

Order of Operations - lesson idea

Here's a motivating way for students to learn order of arithmetic operations.

Lesson idea for order of operations

7. Final thought – enthusiasm

Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), English clergyman and novelist, had this to say about enthusiasm.

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about. [Charles Kingsley]

Enthusiasm for life, and math, certainly makes me happy!

Until next time, enjoy whatever you learn.

See the 11 Comments below.

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HTML: You can use simple tags like <b>, <a href="...">, etc.

To enter math, you can can either:

  1. Use simple calculator-like input in the following format (surround your math in backticks, or qq on tablet or phone):
    `a^2 = sqrt(b^2 + c^2)`
    (See more on ASCIIMath syntax); or
  2. Use simple LaTeX in the following format. Surround your math with \( and \).
    \( \int g dx = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}} \)
    (This is standard simple LaTeX.)

NOTE: You can mix both types of math entry in your comment.

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