Conic sections everywhere…

The physics class is working on projectile motion now – one of the most basic applications of two-dimensional kinematics, and of course, that’s our familiar parabolic motion that we all love. Today, Mr. Ambrose was doing examples for them. Some of them seemed to understand, but there are a few who are having trouble with the concept that you can separate out the X and Y motions, and treat them separately. I’m trying to think of something that would help – a lab, or demonstration, or some particular example, or something that would make the concept more concrete to them. This is really a key point and if people don’t get it, they may be able to do problems, but they won’t truly understand the material.

In Ms. Colwell’s algebra class, they’re working with hyperbolas and inverse-square functions. As they were going through them, talking about the domain and range, I pointed out that they really do need to be aware of domain and range of functions. In my optimization class that I’m taking, and in the work I’m doing for my research, that is something that has to be considered. Some of them seem to think that once they’ve finished a particular section of the book, they’re done with it. I’m trying to help them see that it comes back – as I put it today, “like the night of the living dead” – a bit of a weird twist, but it seemed to get a few people’s attention. There are a few students who really don’t seem very motivated, and I’m wondering how to reach them. I don’t know if they’re distracted by outside issues, or whether they simply aren’t interested in the material. Right now, I don’t know what the answer is, except to work with them when they’re having trouble and not give up.