Math Mondays

Well I have been toying with the idea of a blog for some time now.   And despite my attempts to tell myself “now is not the time,”  the idea of writing a blog keeps coming back to me.  And yes in the form of cheesy hashtags…but, it is what it is.  And then today, on a podcast I heard several reasons why every teacher should keep a blog…and so it begins!

Math Mondays – I have been thinking about something my principal said in our last late start meeting.  She suggested that we teachers engage in reading to appreciate the many nuances of reading comprehension.  I believe the same applies to any other subject…writing, science, music, sports, etc.  And it certainly applies to mathematics. So for now, Math Mondays will feature me doing mathematics so that I can better appreciate the many nuances of mathematical practice.

I am in the process of preparing for the Oregon Educator Licensure Assessment in Mathematics.  So I am brushing up on my Calculus.   I remember most of it, but I have relied on Sal Khan to refresh my memory from time to time.  I am certain there is a conversation to had around the fact that I needed to review, but for now I just want to dive into the math.

This is the current question I am working on:

The velocity of a particle moving along a line is given by  v(t)=4.9t, where t is in seconds.  What is the total distance traveled by the particle in the interval from 2≤t≤6?

So I am certain…I think… this is an integral problem.   But integrals always amaze (i.e., scare) me. I know they give us the area under the curve…so I always hesitate when calculating a distance.  I mean don’t we always harp on the fact that area and distance are two very different things so we must always show our labels…blah.blah.blah.BLAH .blah?

But here we are using the area under the curve to find a total distance.

So I am not using an integral.

I will find the area using d=rt  where r = v(t).  Thus d=v(t)·t

And so I have some questions.

Why twice as large?  Is the problem with my drawing (I think it is!!!)  or is it with my calculations?

And you can bet I will seek the answers tomorrow.

So tune in to Teaching Tuesdays.