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Abstracts for Session 6
Saturday, 8:00-8:45am

Timothy Miller, Using the TI Graphing Calculator in Statistics, Room 125
Graphing calculators can be used to help students visualize statistical concepts. Several programs will be presented that are designed to illustrate and compare the standard probability distributions (binomial, hypergeometric, Poisson, normal, Student’s t, chi-square) both graphically and numerically. Also, programs that perform simulations will be discussed. These programs are available for the TI-82, TI-83, TI-85, TI-86 calculators. (Bring your calculators to download copies of the programs.)
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Showcase: Scientific Notebook Demonstration (Libby Holmgren presenting)
This is another in a series of sessions that have been presented by members of the Math EXPO steering committee to showcase new technology. This is not a keystroke oriented tutorial. The purpose of this session is to highlight some of the unique characteristics of the Scientific Notebook software. This very affordable software allows users to easily enter both text and mathematics in natural notation. It also includes the power of symbolic computation and graphing. If you’ve wondered what this software is about, this is an easy way to find out.
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Chuck Ames, Parametric and Polar Equations with Regular Polygons to Demonstrate DeMoivre's Theorem, Room 302
This talk on parametric and polar equations is geared basically to the Precalculus course level. We’ll cover the graphing of regular polygons, cover some rotational and symmetrical symmetries and then delve into the use of these figures to represent, pictorially, the roots of complex numbers. No graphing calculator experience is required of the audience. Sharp EL9600 graphing calculators will be available, and I will be using the same in my demonstrations, but the material is easily worked with any graphing calculator that a participant may have or bring with them.
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Elizabeth Appelbaum, Cancer Cells and Other Examples of Exponential Growth, Room 306
World population over the centuries - Investments with compound interest - Cancer cells in a tumor. Roughly speaking, these are all examples of exponential growth. As real examples involving life and money, they may be more motivational than the typical textbook example of generic bacteria, safely isolated in a Petri dish. For world population, two graphs will be shown: one on a conventional scale, and the other on a logarithmic scale. The data is from a United Nations site on the Internet. The time runs from 1 C. E. projected to 2200 C. E. For cancer cells, a diagram will be shown of how a tumor grows from one malignant cell. The exponential function is a common model for cancerous growth, but the best model is the Gompertz function, which will be discussed.
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