Visualizing 3D Shapes in Algebra
For the past few years I have taught an advanced Algebra 1 course. Some students in this course may have taken Algebra 1 in eighth grade and maybe did not do as well as hoped, while others may have taken Pre-algebra and did extremely well. In any case, these students typically had a good grasp of linear functions; they understood slopes and intercepts and constant rates of change. I was looking for ways to extend these topics and also integrate them with geometry. It was through the 3D graphing features on the TI-Nspire, using the cross-sections of a cube, that we could integrate geometry and algebra and extend their understanding of key concepts. If you have never used the 3D graphing features on the TI-Nspire, I have created a short…