Geometry Activities with
TI-Nspire CX Technology
CAMT 2012
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For Handouts see my Wiki site: http://ti-nspirecamt2012.wikispaces.com/
Presented by Kristin Arterbury
[email protected]
Education Specialist II
General Education, ESC Region 12
7-12/GE/0
Geometry
Lab 1
Introducing………The TI-Nspire Geometry Application
The TI-Nspire Geometry application is a tool that allows you to
learn/discover/create geometry actively, instead of watching someone else do it on
the board. Each TI-Nspire has this exciting software. It will take a little while for
us to get the hang of using the program, but it is very powerful, and it really has a
lot of potential for improving the way we learn geometry. I hope you like it!
Today we’ll do some introductory work with the geometry application. I’d like
you to follow these directions carefully, but you’ll have plenty of opportunity to
just be creative and explore with it today, because it is fun to play with! Try to get
through all the steps today in class.
AFTER YOU ARE SITTING WITH A PARTNER with your handhelds, follow
the steps below:
Step 1: Preparing the Document
1. Open a new document by clicking on c > New
Document > Add Notes.
2. Type: Lab 1
Note: To obtain capital letters, press the g key, then
the letter you want capitalized.
3. Press ~ > File > Save As …
Type: Lab_1.
Tab to ¾ and press ·.
Note: To obtain the underscore, press / _.
4. To add a new page, press /~ > Add Geometry.
5. To hide the scale in the right corner of the screen, go to
Menu > View > Hide Scale OR hover over the scale
and perform a right click by pressing /b > Hide
Scale. (see screenshot)
NOTE: Perform a right click on any object by pressing /b.
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6. Press b > Settings. Select Float 4 for display digits. Tab to OK and press x
or ·.
7. Stop what you’re doing, look up at me and put your hand on your head. (Just
seeing who’s reading the directions!)
8. Work together with your partner to reach this point. Complete the sentence stem
then move on to STEP 2.
One thing I learned in STEP 1 is…..
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STEP 2: Lines, Segments and Rays
9. Press b > Points and Lines to reveal some of the
geometry tools. Create a segment by pressing b >
Points and Lines > Segment.
10. Move the pencil toward the left side of the screen
about halfway down. Press x to draw a point.
Immediately press g A to label the point.
11. Move the pencil to the right side of the screen. A dotted segment will appear.
Press x to draw another point. Immediately press g B to label the point.
NOTE: Press d to exit a particular tool. You will notice that the icon
representing the tool, in the top left corner of the screen, will disappear when you
press d.
12. Try drawing a ray. Now try a line.
SUPER TIP: Hover over the Tool icon in the top left
corner of the screen to read the tooltips for the selected
tool.
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13. The geometry tools help illustrate the definitions you’ve been given! Sketch the
results in the table below.
14. Press b > Measurement > Length. Try measuring each geometric object
you drew. Explain the results of your measurement in the space provided.
Geometric
Object
Sketch
Measurement Results and
Explanation
Segment
Line
Ray
STEP 3: Selecting an object.
15. The arrow icon | becomes a hand ÷ when you hover over a geometric object.
This causes the object to become bold, and a label appears identifying the type
of geometric object.
16. To grab a point or object, place the pointer over the object until the pointer
becomes a hand. Hold down the center button x OR press /x to grab the
object. Use the touchpad to drag the point by pressing the arrows on the
touchpad OR by moving your finger across the touchpad. Click the center
button to release the object.
17. Grab and drag the points, segments, lines and rays on the screen. Experiment to
determine the types of movements that are possible. Describe the types of
movement using transformation vocabulary.
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Compare notes with your partner before moving to the next step.
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STEP 4: Deleting Objects or Undoing Steps in a Process
18. To delete a figure, select the figure by clicking x then press .. Try it. Now
that you’ve deleted it, you decide “Oops! I want it back!” No problem. Press
/ d to undo the previous step.
NOTE: You can also backtrack through the steps you’ve done by pressing / Z.
Hold down / and push Z as many steps as you would like to go back.
19. Now delete everything on your screen and draw two points, connect the points
with a segment, and create a triangle with additional segments.
20. Move segments and points of your triangle around by selecting and dragging
them. Try selecting two segments or points at the same time and dragging them
around. How about all 3 segments or points?
21. Press b > Actions > Delete all to clear your sketch.
22. Now try creating a triangle with the Triangle tool. Press b > Shapes >
Triangle and use the tooltips to discover how to create your triangle.
Before moving on to step 5, summarize how you can delete an action you have
mistakenly performed. (List at least two ways.)
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Step 5: Creating Dynamic Text
23. Measure the angles in your triangle by choosing b > Measurement > Angle.
Use the tooltips if you need help.
24. How are these angle measures related?
25. Let’s find out by having your TI-Nspire calculate
the sum. Press b > Actions > Text. Click in a
blank space on the screen and type ++ (you
will find the Greek letters by pressing /k).
26. Exit from the Text Tool by pressing d. Hover the arrow over ++ and right
click (i.e. /b). Choose Calculate. Your calculator will ask for the measure
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that you want to substitute in for each variable. Click one angle measure for
each variable then click · once the sum is displayed.
Grab and drag your triangle to see what changes then describe your results.
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27. If you have extra time, do #28 and #29.
28. Create a segment however you like. Place a point on the segment (not at the
midpoint). Use the measurement menu to measure the two segments created by
this point. Measure the entire segment as well.
29. Find the sum of the two segments using the same process we used for finding
the sum of the angles in the triangle on steps 25-26. How does this sum
compare to the length of the entire segment? Now drag the point between the
endpoints along the segment, and notice which measurements change and
which don’t.
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Good work! You should now be able to answer the questions below for
homework.
Questions
1.
What tools would you use to draw a triangle?
2.
How would you select all objects on the screen at once?
3.
How can you change the shape of a triangle?
4.
How can you create a point at the midpoint of a segment?
5.
How can you find the length of a segment?
6.
How would you measure the ratio of two distances?
7.
How do you measure an angle?
8.
Summarize what you found when you did exercise #13.
9.
What was your favorite part of the geometry application?
7-12/GE/0