Navigating the Handheld: Now turn on your TI-NSpire

Transcription

1 Scavenger Hunt: What can you do with a TI-Nspire CX Handheld? Getting to Know the Keypad Draw arrows from these descriptions to the picture of the TI-NSpire CX shown at right. 1. The most important keys: Home/On c, d, and 2. Math Symbols: a. Multiplication / Division b. Addition / Subtraction c. Exponent l d. Pi ¹ e. Equals = f. Negative numbers v (note: this is NOT the subtraction key!) 3. Other useful symbols a. Comma, b. Delete. c. Flying calculator» d. Space _ e. Shift g 4. Which key do you push to access the light blue or yellow functions on the key pad? 5. Why do you think the X, Y and Z keys are not the same color as the rest of the letter keys? 6. The CLICK button is located in the center of the TouchPad. What do you think the icons on the CLICK button mean? Navigating the Handheld: Now turn on your TI-NSpire Press c to turn the handheld on and/or go to the HOME screen. 7. How many choices do you have from the home screen? (Include choices made by pressing letters, numbers or the arrow keys). 8. Use the letter and number keys, or the arrow keys around the TouchPad, to navigate around the HOME screen and explore these choices: a. What is the difference between the two Scratchpad choices on the left side of the c screen? b. Which option might you select to graph a line? c. Which option might you select to construct a triangle? d. Which option might you select to collect some data? e. What are two different ways to get to a calculate screen? f. Choose SETTINGS STATUS to see how much charge there is on your battery. %

2 Hints You can usually press c or d to get out of a place you don t want to be. If you make a mistake, you can press. or / Z to undo. This works like the backspace key and undo menu choice on a computer. Try it: key in a problem on the scratchpad calculator, then make a change to your problem before pressing. You will probably use the Scratchpad frequently for calculations and graphing functions, but you can also create, use and save multi-page documents with calculations, graphs, geometric figures, lists and spreadsheets, text ( Notes ) and data the you collect with scientific instruments. If you are in Scratchpad, you can press d, or c and 4: CURRENT to get back to your current document. Performing Calculations Press c, then 1 to open a New Document, ( don t save, if it asks you) then 1 to Add a Calculator Page to the document. A blank page appears on the screen and a tab labeled 1.1 appears in the top left. This means you are in Problem 1, Page Press t (It s next to the 9). It brings up a template for various math symbols that you can use. What does the first symbol represent? What are some other symbols that you might use? Press d to make the symbols go away. 10. Do the following problems on your Calculator page. Problem Your solution Hints a Did you use the v key? b times 8.9 c d e. 64 f g h i j What does the multiplication symbol look like on the screen? How many different ways can you do this? Use the right arrow key to get out of the exponent box. Can you find two different ways to do this? Where are the absolute value bars? Just use the division sign to get a fraction. Did you want a fraction or a decimal for your answer? Press / to force a decimal. What must you do to get the correct answer of ½? What do you need to include to get it to look like this on your screen? There are three ways to do this, using l, s, or i. Try them all! k. (8 + 4) (15 9) What happens if you don t use parentheses?

3 Graphing Functions 11. Press / ~ Add Graphs to add a function graphing page to your document. At the top of the screen you will see the function entry line, f1(x)=. (example: f1(x)=3x+4) a. Key in a function of your choice and press to see your graph and function. Use the letter x for your variable. b. Press e to re-open the function line. It will now be on f2(x)=. Key in another function that will intersect your first function with the intersection point visible on the screen. (example: f2(x)= -2x+1) c. Using the b key, see if you can find at least two ways to locate the point of intersection. Using Notes pages 12. Press / ~ and Add Notes. Type a few words. How do you get upper-case letters? How do you do CAPS lock? 13. Type a vocabulary term and definition with an example. To get a math box, press / M. That allows you to type mathematically correct expressions or equations. You can also do calculations within a math box. 14. How could you use Notes pages in math class? Lists & Spreadsheets, Data & Statistics 15. Press / ~ and Add Lists & Spreadsheets. Collect some data from several people sitting near you and key it in as shown. Put the Label in the top row (marked with a label), skip the row with the = sign, and put your data into the numbered rows. Be sure to press when you are done. 16. Press / ~ and Add Data & Statistics. Move the cursor to Click to add variable and experiment with the graphs you can create. Use the b key for more options. Geometry 17. Press / ~ and Add Geometry. Use the b key to find the Geometry tools. Experiment with drawing shapes and lines. With the 2: View menu, you can graph in 3D! How can I learn more? Go to and choose Activities to find math and science activities searchable by content, standards or textbook. Go to and choose Professional Development. Choose Online Learning, then Tutorials to find links to online video tutorials from Atomic Learning for basic NSpire skills. Teachers: attend the webinars where expert teachers demonstrate how to use NSpire in your classroom. For very specific topic, do a Google search. For example, How do I graph a circle on a TI-NSpire? gives thousands of results, including YouTube videos and the Atomic Learning tutorials. Join the TI-NSpire Google group. The members are happy to answer even very basic questions!

4 Scavenger Hunt: What can you do with a TI-Nspire CX Handheld? Getting to Know the Keypad Draw arrows from these descriptions to the picture of the TI-NSpire CX shown at right. 1. The most important keys: Home/On c, d, and 7. Math Symbols: a. Multiplication / Division b. Addition / Subtraction c. Exponent l d. Pi ¹ e. Equals = f. Negative numbers v (note: this is NOT the subtraction key!) 8. Other useful symbols f. Comma, g. Delete. h. Flying calculator» i. Space _ j. Shift g 9. Which key do you push to access the light blue or yellow functions on the key pad? / 10. Why do you think the X, Y and Z keys are not the same color as the rest of the letter keys? Because they are often used as variables 11. The CLICK button is located in the center of the TouchPad. What do you think the icons on the CLICK button mean? The arrow means Click and the hand is Grab. Navigating the Handheld: Now turn on your TI-NSpire Press c to turn the handheld on &/or go to the HOME screen. 21. How many choices do you have from the home screen? (Include choices made by pressing letters, numbers or the arrow keys) Use the letter and number keys, or the arrow keys around the TouchPad, to navigate around the HOME screen and explore these choices: a. What is the difference between the two Scratchpad choices on the left side of the c screen? Calculate screen and Graphing Functions screen b. Which option might you select to graph a line? _ or B: Graph c. Which option might you select to construct a triangle? d. Which option might you select to collect some data? or e. What are two different ways to get to a calculate screen? _ or A: Calculate f. Choose SETTINGS STATUS to see how much charge there is on your battery. %

5 Hints You can usually press c or d to get out of a place you don t want to be. If you make a mistake, you can press. or / Z to undo. This works like the backspace key and undo menu choice on a computer. Try it: key in a problem on the scratchpad calculator, then make a change to your problem before pressing. You will probably use the Scratchpad frequently for calculations and graphing functions, but you can also create, use and save multi-page documents with calculations, graphs, geometric figures, lists and spreadsheets, text ( Notes ) and data the you collect with scientific instruments. If you are in Scratchpad, you can press d, or c and 4: CURRENT to get back to your current document. Performing Calculations Press c, then 1 to open a New Document, ( don t save, if it asks you) then 1 to Add a Calculator Page to the document. A blank page appears on the screen and a tab labeled 1.1 appears in the top left. This means you are in Problem 1, Page Press t (It s next to the 9). It brings up a template for various math symbols that you can use. What does the first symbol represent? _a fraction What are some other symbols that you might use? square root, absolute value, exponent Press d to make the symbols go away. 24. Do the following problems on your Calculator page. Problem Your solution Hints a Did you use the v key? b times c d e. 64 f What does the multiplication symbol look like on the screen? A small dot How many different ways can you do this? Exponent key l, t, Use the right arrow key to get out of the exponent box. Can you find two different ways to do this? Ò or t Where are the absolute value bars? t g h i j or You can use t or the division sign to get a fraction. Did you want a fraction or a decimal for your answer? Press / to force a decimal. What must you do to get the correct answer of ½? Use parentheses. What do you need to include to get it to look like this on your screen? Parentheses There are three ways to do this, using l, s, or i. Try them all! k. (8 + 4) (15 9) What happens if you don t use parentheses?

6 Graphing Functions 25. Press / ~ Add Graphs to add a function graphing page to your document. At the top of the screen you will see the function entry line, f1(x)=. (example: f1(x)=3x+4) a. Key in a function of your choice and press to see your graph and function. Use the letter x for your variable. b. Press e to re-open the function line. It will now be on f2(x)=. Key in another function that will intersect your first function with the intersection point visible on the screen. (example: f2(x)= -2x+1) c. Using the b key, see if you can find at least two ways to locate the point of intersection. Menu > Analyze Graph > Intersection, the set a lower and upper bound, or Menu > Trace > Graph Trace and use the arrow keys. Using Notes pages 26. Press / ~ and Add Notes. Type a few words. How do you get upper-case letters? g How do you do CAPS lock? /g 27. Type a vocabulary term and definition with an example. To get a math box, press / M. That allows you to type mathematically correct expressions or equations. You can also do calculations within a math box. Answers will vary. 28. How could you use Notes pages in math class? To take notes with examples, to do written assignments, to create title pages for documents, etc. Lists & Spreadsheets, Data & Statistics 29. Press / ~ and Add Lists & Spreadsheets. Collect some data from several people sitting near you and key it in as shown. Put the Label in the top row (marked with a label), skip the row with the = sign, and put your data into the numbered rows. Be sure to press when you are done. Answers will vary. 31. Press / ~ and Add Data & Statistics. Move the cursor to Click to add variable and experiment with the graphs you can create. Use the b key for more options. Geometry 34. Press / ~ and Add Geometry. Use the b key to find the Geometry tools. Experiment with drawing shapes and lines. With the 2: View menu, you can graph in 3D! How can I learn more? Go to and choose Activities to find math and science activities searchable by content, standards or textbook. Go to and choose Professional Development. Choose Online Learning, then Tutorials to find links to online video tutorials from Atomic Learning for basic NSpire skills. Teachers: attend the webinars where expert teachers demonstrate how to use NSpire in your classroom. For very specific topic, do a Google search. For example, How do I graph a circle on a TI-NSpire? gives thousands of results, including YouTube videos and the Atomic Learning tutorials. Join the TI-NSpire Google group. The members are happy to answer even very basic questions!