Portfolios are longer assignments (They should take about an hour.) that need to be submitted in a drop box in the lesson. They may be done on paper and then a picture may be taken of the paper and the picture may be submitted (If you don't have a camera, use the Camera app on your laptop.), or may be done using a computer program such as Word, Excel, or AutoDesk Sketchbook. Look here for special instructions and help files and video recordings.
Unit 2 - Trigonometry of Temperatures
The purpose of this activity is to explore curve fitting with the sine and cosine functions. We practice modifying vertical displacement, amplitude, period and phase shift. In the activity we look up and fit curves to average monthly high temperatures for three cities of varying latitude on the globe. You will want to download the worksheet from the lesson, Unit 2, Lesson 10, slide 7 of 7, "The Trigonometry of Temperatures Worksheet." Watch the recording below. I guide you through using Desmos to complete the activity. When you submit the portfolio, submit a copy of the worksheet filled out, and a screen shot of your three city graphs from Desmos.
Unit 5 - How Far Will You Travel
For this lesson we apply the formula for the cosine of an angle between vectors, cos theta = u*v / |u|*|v|, by finding the distance between two locations on the globe using their GPS coordinates. In the video below, I walk through an example, finding the distance between the Boise capitol building and the Sydney opera house. I use Google Maps to find the GPS coordinates and Microsoft Excel to perform the actual calculations. Google Sheets or another spreadsheet could be used, and you are also free to do the calculations with a calculator, but I find Excel to be the most efficient way to do this problem. I start the video by explaining how the formulas converting GPS coordinates to <x,y,z> vectors are derived. It is not necessary to submit notes on this part of the video, but it is intended to help make sense of the math. For this assignment, it is not necessary to print the worksheet from the lesson. However, you are still expected to complete Part 4, writing a paragraph in the Excel sheet you will turn in.
Unit 6 - Storm Tracker
In this activity, we will produce a set of parametric equations to track a storm over time. So, we will be working with t, x(t), and y(t). The tools I use are Excel and Desmos. Excel is just a place to enter the original data, so that it may be copied into Desmos, without having to retype the values twice. Watch the recording below, in which I track the hurricane, Katrina, from 2005, that struck the city of New Orleans, LA. You will need to submit a final screen shot of the graph of your data points and the parametric equations, your answers to the reflection questions from the worksheet in the lesson, and your actual parametric equations.