Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Today was a PLC Day, so only a 40-minute class. This was our opener (pdf).

We then spent some time reviewing dimensional analysis and proportion and percent (lesson, pdf).

Your homework for Friday is:

1. We're going to be blogging soon where sometimes you'll need to include some mathematical notation in your blog posts. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't currently have an equation editor, but we do have several ways to get done what we need to get done. Please read through the following options and pick the one you think will work best for you (you may want to experiment with several before you decide).
   
   You should be comfortable with how to use the option you choose by Friday. For each of the following, create a practice blog post to paste/insert the image into. You don't have to actually publish the post, just mess around with it in draft form until you feel comfortable with the copy/paste or insert process (then you can delete the draft post if you'd like). Try to create this:
   
   
   
   
   Note: These are in order of difficulty, with the easiest options coming first (but you may prefer some of the other ones).
   
   Option 1: Use an online equation editor, like this one.
   
   Create your equation, choose "png" from the drop-down where it currently says "gif", then click on "Click here to Download Image (png)" to download the image. Then insert it into your practice blog post by using the insert image button on the toolbar (just to the right of the "Link" button).
   
   
   Option 2: Scan or take Digital Picture.
   
   Write out the equation on paper and either scan it or take a digital picture, then insert it into your practice blog post by using the insert image button on the toolbar.
   
   
   Option 3: Use Microsoft Word/Open Office and a screencapture utility.
   
   Both Microsoft Word and Open Office have equation editors built-in to them. You'll need to explore a bit to find them (the help system is great to help you find it). Once you find it try creating some equations, perhaps with fractions in them. Once you can see your completed equation on screen, you'll need to capture it using a screen utility.
   

   Mac: Use Grab (comes with OS X). Launch Grab and drag a selection rectangle around the equation in Word/Open Office and let go. Grab will grab a screenshot of what you had the rectangle around. Once the image is in Grab, choose Edit-->Copy (or command-C) to copy it, then switch to your blog and choose Edit-->Paste (or command-V) to paste it in to your practice blog post.

   Windows: You may already have a utility on your computer that allows you to do this. If you do, great, use it. If not, then MWSnap is a decent, free choice. (While MWSnap should be safe, please ask your parents before installing any software on your computer at home.) Once you've installed it, launch it, capture your equation from Word/Open Office, copy it, and paste it into your practice blog post.

   Option 4: Install MathType.
   
   You can download and install MathType for free on a Windows or Macintosh computer. It will be a fully functional version for 30 days, and then will revert to MathType Lite, but that's okay because the Lite version has everything we need. While MathType should be safe, please ask your parents before installing any software on your computer at home.
   
   After installing MathType you'll need to launch it and change a setting so that you can copy and paste to your blog.
   

   Mac: Go to the MathType Menu, then Preferences, then Cut and Copy Preferences. Select "Equation for application or website" and in the drop-down menu choose "Google Docs" and then click "OK".
   
   Windows: Go to the Preferences Menu, then Cut and Copy Preferences. Select "Equation for application or website" and in the drop-down menu choose "Google Docs" and then click "OK".

   Now play around in MathType and try creating some equations, perhaps with fractions in them, and then practice copying from MathType and pasting into your practice blog post. As an alternative, you can also save it as a GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) then insert that image into your blog post by using the insert image button on the toolbar.
   
   
   Option 5: Some other option you know of that works better for you.
   
   If you need help with any of this, please come in tomorrow (Thursday, as you all have at least one unscheduled hour) and I can quickly show you.
   
   
   
2. If you want some extra practice solving some one-step equations, try these at Cool Math (One-step with addition and subtraction; one-step with multiplication and division). This is optional, but not a bad idea to get some extra practice.