Math Homework

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Math homework:

Scene: Student sitting at desk with graphing calculator, math book, and note pad.

(the spoke part is in bold)

Student speaks sits back to audience. In front of student and audience is a large Velcro wall. And large easel and those big sheets of paper. At bottom of easel is a big ‘button’ marked GRAPH. The paper will serve as the audiences’ screen to see what the student is typing into the calculator.

Student reads aloud from homework:

Student: Graph the function y = sin(x)

Student punches some stuff in calculator. Student then flips the first big sheet of paper and appears y1 = sin(x) . And then hits the GRAPH button.

From stage left, a student does the worm (ala the 1982 break dancing move) across the stage, i.e. the student is the function.

Student looks at #2: Graph y= 3sin(x)

Flips page and now on easel it says

y1 = sin(x)

y2 = 3sin(x)

After the graph button is pushed, now two people do the worm in phase only one with a bigger magnitude.


Student: Part two – graph shifts. Graph the y=x2.

Student flips page on easel and it says

Y=x2

(okay, I admit the main reason I wrote this ‘play’ is for this next part. The Velcro wall is is big. You’ll see why in a second. And I have always wanted to make a Velcro wall ala David Letterman in 1984 back when he was funny. The wall wouldn’t be vertical. It would take some playing around with to get the angle steep enough for the audience to see but no so steep that the Velcro does not hold.).

Students wearing Velcro suits climb onto and stick to the wall. They arrange themselves in the shape of a parabola. (I think 3 students would do it).

Student: Now graph y = (x-2)2

Student crosses out equation on the easel and re writes it as y = (x-2)2

The entire parabola wiggles two to the right.

Student: Part 4, what I think of math. Cool, a polar equation!

Flips page on easel and r = 1-sinθ appears

Graph forms into r = 1-sinθ. (if you forgot, the equation is a cartiod; it looks like a heart.)

The end