Tag Archives: transformation

297. Crabby Functions

I take no credit for this ‘aide-memoire’ – it comes from a most delightful and hardworking student. To quote a colleague “She is the poster-child for the benefits hard work”.

Let’s call this student Natasha (not even close to her real name). Natasha had been struggling to work out the difference between graph/function transformations, in particular f(x+a) and f(x)+a. Which way did the graph move? How could you tell? Then she had a brain wave:
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She drew little Y shapes on the brackets:
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One of the brackets now looks like a little crab:
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And we all know crabs move sideways – so it most be a horizontal translation!
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Simple!

Logical!

Genius!

Thank you Natasha!

249. Reflection Worth doing

Happy New Year folks!

Just a quick post today. How to use footage from a classic 1960s show to demonstrate reflection for comedic purposes.

The classic sketch by Harry Worth. Just wait and see how many students try to copy this.

 

18. Similar triangles

This quick activity shows that although the sides change in similar triangles, the angles stay the same. It can also be used with enlargement.

Equipment
Two pieces of different coloured card (A5 or A6 is fine)
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Sticky tape

Step by step instructions
Two Lines
Draw a line parallel to the long sides of one piece of card (min 2cm from the edge)

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Wrap
Place the two pieces of card at 90 degrees to make a cross.

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Wrap the lined card around the unlined card

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Cut
Mark out a triangle using the pencil lines as a guide.
Cut along two sides as shown. It’s okay to tidy up a messy cut, so long as the line remains straight.

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Stick
Turn over the card and refold in the opposite direction. Stick the bottom edge of the folded card in place, as shown.

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Slide
Slot the second piece in place.

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Turn over.

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As the slider moves up and down a contrasting triangle appears and disappears.

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You can measure the sides & angles of every triangle you make.

This can be stuck into books by gluing along the folded edges, which still allows the slider to move.