Using Graphing Calculators, Programs, and Graphic Analysis Software
Major Project
Steve Ramsdell
November 1999
using the programs to gather data
transfer data back to the computer
Overview: This project is used to bring students to the point of using current technology to solve problems. The technology has been available for a few years, but not utilized in this district. The first phase is to familiarize students with graphing calculators and some of the functions that we will use in the project. The second phase is to give information on where calculator programs can be found on the Internet. Following this will be the teaching of how to download a file to disk and use a file transfer program to transfer the file from a disk to a calculator. Then we do an experiment and data gathering. Next will be uploading data from the calculator to data analysis programs. Not included in this program is the use of the information when brought into graphing programs and word processors on the computer.
The school district is ten miles northeast of Decatur Illinois. The geographic area of the district includes the northern edge of Decatur, the towns of Argenta and Oreana, and the surrounding rural area. The students are a great mix of socio economic backgrounds. Computer use at home has been increasing as the price of equipment and ISP accesses has declined. Students are readily adapting to new technology. There still is a sizable percentage with no experience with computers or graphing calculators. Although computers have been used by most of the students, the programs and linking have not been tried.
The equipment and software we use is of one brand. I have no connection to these companies or their products, nor do I endorse one over the other. They were chosen by the department as equipment that would work for us, and last longer, as upgrading was a concern. There are many companies that put out similar products that work well.
The students ranged in grade from 9-12. The project was worked on with smaller groups and plans are being made to bring this to all science classes. Students involved in this project are in Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science classes.
Use of the TI-83+
The TI 83+
Students are used to working with calculators in math classes. There has been no standardization of types of calculators or brands. The Science Department (consisting of three teachers) has worked through grants and class monies to get a set of calculators that can be used by all science classes. Through research and digging for information we have chosen the TI-83+. There are other calculators by Sharp and Hewlet Packard that meet or exceed our needs. The TI83+ offers a set of features that matched our needs. The ability to upgrade the calculator's bios is a plus.
Students are given the calculators along with work sheets and information sheets in the first class. They are given time and assistance to find their way around the calculator and to try to solve basic problems. During this period the faster students help others get started. In most classes there has been a lot of peer assistance. After some basic problem solving, students are introduced to some important features. The work sheets are Algebra 1 type problems, with emphasis on scientific notation and converting units within the metric system. This usually ends the first period.
The second period is used to get back to the calculator and explain how to find and use programs within the calculator. The TI83+ has the capacity to archive programs in a non-use section. This allows more programs to be carried on the calculator and helps to eliminate frequent deleting and downloading programs. We practice finding programs in a list on the calculator. Once programs are found, we open them and try them out. From there we archive the program, and then bring it out of archive. Lesson ideas were worked on in a Texas Instrument Workshop I attended. Ideas and plans are available at the Texas Instrument Web Page www.ti.calc.com Students help each other out until everyone has a achieved a basic comfort level. This ends the first half of the second session.
The last half of the class is linking. With the link cable two calculators can be connected and programs can be transferred from one calculator to the other. The procedure is very straight forward.
Two calculators linked
The next few minutes are spent on practicing this. Students exchange programs and try them out. There are a few games on a some of the calculators. Passing these around by link, and trying them out keeps their interest. When students are ready the next step starts. We introduce them to a few web sites. The first is www.ti.com/calc/ At this site you can get product information, education information, free program downloads, and the latest graph link software. The first step is to show them around the site and indicate a path to the programs. There are great pages for educators here. They will not have to download the graph link or software, as it is on the class computers. I do walk them through the process of downloading because some will install the graph link at home. The next stop is www.ticalc.org This site has tons of programs free for the taking. It has an archive section that is arranged first by calculator model, then by subject area. The huge amount of games draws immediate attention. I can't understand why. The last site is Vernier's web site. This site has lots of free science programs. It also has large amounts of information on the scientific probes and CBLs they make. They are extremely helpful with customer support. The address is www.vernier.com. Vernier updates and upgrades their programs on a regular basis. It is a good idea to check this site of a monthly basis.
Getting programs from the Inter Net
Transfer programs from the computer to the calculator.
The third lesson is downloading. Once students are acquainted with the sites we move on to actually finding a file that we need and downloading it to a file in the computer. I like the file to get copied directly to the a: drive. Each students gets a chance to do this. There is a hand out that walks them through the steps.
student transferring a program from a computer to a calculator
Once the program is on the a: drive, the graph link program is used. The graph link program is very similar to the FTP programs we use with our class. There are 2 boxes. A file is brought from the computer a: drive, to one box and then transferred to the other box which shows files on the calculator. Files can also be deleted from this program, so care must be taken. Additionally, there is a different version of TI Graph Link for each model of calculator, one must be certain that the right version is being used. To get everyone to download and transfer successfully takes more than one class period.
Using the programs to gather data
Books of experiment that use the equipment.
There are many books that contain experiments that utilize this equipment. In addition to Texas Instruments' and Vernier's, there are now many independent authors writing these books. Once the experiment is chosen, the program loaded, and the students have had the pre lab lecture, it is time to use a probe and gather data. The class is given copies of the pre lab and worksheet from one of the books. Most of these books do allow copying of materials.
Students gathering data.
Pictured are two students gathering data for a velocity time experiment. The equipment used is a calculator (in students hand), linked to a CBL (on the table in the foreground) and a motion detector probe (blue item on the table). A CBL is a Calculator-Based Laboratory System that provides an easy way to collect real world data. Once the data has been collected, students can view and analyze it on the calculator. There are other interfaces for linking probes directly to a computer. This is another choice we had to make. Once the data has been gathered, small groups of students can answer questions about their results. When that is done the calculator is linked to other calculators and data is exchanged until everyone has all the data. Now we transfer the data from the calculator to the computer. The graph link cable is used. The graphic analysis program walks you through the uploading process. Different programs may have different steps.
Pictured are the Motion detector (upper left), CBL (right) and calculator (on the lower left).
Transfer data back to the computer
Student transferring data to the computer.
Data is transferred to a data analysis program. The program was designed at Vernier Company. It works extremely well with data uploaded from the calculator.
From this point on the data can go to a group report or be turned in as part of the lab. Data can be exported to other graphing programs and information can be typed into a word processor or presentation program. I like to make overheads from a screen capture program. These overheads are very nice when doing the follow up lecture and test preparation. They may also be used for the next year's class in the prelab.
Students have successfully used a graphing calculator. They have learned features of linking calculators, and linking calculators to computers. They have learned how to use probes and CBL to directly input data to the calculator. They have used programs to manipulate data and perform functions. They have found out what to do with data through the graphic analysis, graphing , and word processing programs.
Most importantly they have had the emphasis shifted from data collection to data analysis. They spend more time on thinking about what is happening than on watching the clock and adding the next temperature change to a long list. Students have gained experience in the hands-on use of this technology and it has increased their interest in science and technology.
Before a lab is given, do yourself a large favor. Run through every step and phase a few days before. The programs are new. If things don't work, there is tech support that is freely given. And the old credo about if something can go wrong, always holds true on big labs.
A note of thanks to the people at Texas Instruments that let me use their information. Also, I thank the people at Vernier's Company for their support in this project. The Vernier representatives were also very helpful when things did not go as planned by providing information and assistance. And lastly, thanks to the people that operate the TI Calc Web Site. It is a great resource. There are also similar sites that have programs for the Hewlet Packard Calculators.