Instructor | Class meetings | Office hours | Syllabus | Notes from class | Textbooks, internet, and group work | Exams, homework, and grading | Exams and projects | Useful links

Instructor

Class meetings

Third period (11:00-12:15) Tuesday and Thursday
Aderhold Hall, room 111-113

Office hours

Monday 12:20 - 1:10, Boyd 402 - There will be no office hours Monday, December 13.
Tuesday 12:30 - 1:30, Aderhold 111
Wednesday 12:20 - 1:10, Boyd 402
Thursday 12:30 - 1:30, Aderhold 111
- or by appointment -

Syllabus

There is no textbook, but the software Geometer's Sketchpad, version 4 (Student Edition) is required. It is available at the University Bookstore (textbook section) for $50, as well as the Baxter Street Bookstore and the Off Campus Bookstore. It can be ordered online or by phone directly from Key Curriculum Press for $39.95.

Here's an outline of topics:

I. Geometer's Sketchpad

II. Axioms and proofs in geometry

III. Trigonometry and analytic geometry

We'll start by getting familiar with Geometer's Sketchpad, which we'll use throughout the course. Then we'll discuss the foundations of geometry, first from an axiomatic viewpoint, and then using analytic methods (trig functions and algebraic equations).

Schedule of topics
Useful texts

Notes from class

Centers of triangles
Inscribed angles
Similar triangles
The golden ratio
Greek construction rules
Constructions and proofs
The pentagram

Axioms for plane geometry
Basic theorems of plane geometry
Definitions involving circles
Tangents to circles
Proof of side-angle-side similarity
Proofs of other similarity theorems

Definition of sine and cosine
Trig addition formulas
Cartesian coordinates
Coordinate formulas
Equations of lines
Vector proof that altitudes are concurrent
Conic sections

Textbooks, internet, and group work

• The theme of this course is experimentation! You should not use textbooks or the internet to look up solutions of homework problems.
• On the other hand, it is important to learn about geometry sources on the internet. A few homework assignments will involve looking something up on the internet and writing a short report.
• Working with classmates on homework is encouraged. To report on group work each member of the group should write up his or her own version of each problem solution.

Exams, homework, and grading

There will be three one-hour exams, a term project, and a final exam. Homework will be due about once a week, and it will be graded. Homework will include regular short written reports. Late homework will not be accepted. Each of the hour tests will count 15% of the grade, homework will count 20%, the project will count 15%, and the final exam will count 20%.

Homeworks 1,2,3,4
Practice problems for exam 1
Homework 5, Solutions
Homework 6, Solutions
Practice problems for exam 2
Homework 7
Homework 8, Solutions
Homework 9, Solutions
Practice problems for exam 3

Exams and projects

Exam 1: Thursday, September 16. Solutions to part A, Solutions to part B
Project proposals due: Thursday, October 7. Project ideas
Exam 2: Thursday, October 21. Solutions
Exam 3: Tuesday, November 23. Solutions
Projects due: Thursday, December 2. Schedule of presentations
Final Exam: Tuesday, December 14, 12:00-3:00

Useful links

Cole Sherer's web site: Gauss
Kristy Dunbar and Laura Evans' web site: Pythagorean Theorem
Class email addresses
Key Curriculum Press, Geometer's Sketchpad, Kaleidomania, and more
Euclid's Elements, David Joyce, Clark University
Yahoo! Geometry, selected geometry web pages
Math Forum, Drexel University
Geometry bibliography, David Henderson, Cornell University
Cabri geometry, an alternative to GSP

This page was created on July 26, 2004. It was last modified on December 3, 2004.