Archives for 2008

Linear Law,Just 1 Strategy Makes A Grade Difference

What is Linear Law?

It is a tool which will allow you to transform non-straight line equation to straight line equation so that you can plot a straight line. Most of the time, the axis will consist of x and/or y

One of the techniques involving taking lg (log base 10) on both sides of the given equation.

Common Mistake! STOP
$y=Ax^b=>lgy=blgAx=>blgA+blgx$

This is one of the common mistakes I have highlighted in Top 7 Commonly Made Mistakes in Logarithm

How To Counter This Mistake

Very simple. Just add in a bracket on the right hand side of the equation.
$y=(Ax^b)<br> =>lgy=lg(Ax^b)<br> => lgy=lgA+lgx^b<br> => lgy=lgA+blgx<br>$

Now, your y-axis will be lg y and x-axis will be lg x. Gradient = b and y-intercept = lg A

I Am Really Excited About This Online MindMap Tool!

When I first chanced upon it, I was absolutely blown away!

When I used it, I was totally amazed!

MindMapping has been a tool which I used it often and encourage students and everyone else to use it for getting ideas, organizing thoughts, planning... basically everything. I read quite a number of books on mindmapping published by renowned authors like Tony Buzan and a list of other in this field.

One of the stopping factors which used to stop me from creating my mindmaps was that I cannot draw. Students who have seen my "drawing" know that I am best at drawing lines and curves. My drawing subjects usually involved less than 5 lines/curves. LOL. I know.

When I saw this online mindmap, it is totally a gift from universal for me. I strongly everyone is used it. There's a free trial for 30 days for you to evaluate if this is the tool for you.

By the way, I do not recommend anything unless I have personally used and tested it to be effective.

Vote For singaporeolevelmaths!

It always feels good when someone compliments you. Be it your clothing, the way you talk, your new look, your new acquired wisdom...We all love compliments, don't we?

I love to hear comments from readers. Just recently, I got a very motivating comment from one of our readers. Thank you.
Comments keep me going in times when I feel burnt out, feel exhausted but when I think of how much my tips and strategies are going to help students, parents and even teachers, I simply keep going :-)

Those who have the opportunity to spend time with me notice the many "Thank You","Awesome","Nice", "Well Done" for every little actions student do. Acknowledge students for their effort, courage to answer a question, the guts to even raise hands in response to the question asked.

Acknowledging Partcipicants is one of the every important tips for parents, teachers and trainers to build the rapport crucial for coaching, not nagging, not talking to the wall .

Is It A Frog or Horse?

What Do You See? Tilt your head slightly to the right =>

Quadratic Equation Discriminant Proving Question

I realize many students have a challenge with presenting the solution of proving question. I am going to illustrate the correct way using the following question.

Show that is always positive for all real values of x.

=> what is always +ve? the values of y not x ( x can be of any values)

=> The graph will not touch x-axis; it is "hanging" above the x-axis

=> No roots, hence discriminant is less than 0

TIPS FOR SHOWING/PROVING QUESTION

Have an end in your mind. Be clear of the underlying concepts that the question is asking you to prove. Work towards that. For example, in the question, we want to prove that the discriminant is less than 0. <== this is the end.
Sketch to have a clearer idea.

What Is The Difference Between Sketch And Draw?

It is important to know the difference between Sketch A Graph & Draw A Graph.

Sketch ==>

On foolscap paper
Best Representation of the graph
Less time as it reflects only the general shape of the graph.

Draw ==>

On graph paper
Accurate representation of the graph
More time needed as it usually involves more points on the graph
Curve rule/french curve is usually required.

Example:

Sketch $y=-3x+1$

What I will do :

Find x-intercept (i.e. set y = 0)
$x=\frac{1}{3}$
Find y-intercept (i.e. set x = 0) y = 1
Put the 2 points on the axes I have drawn on foolscap, join the 2 points, label the line.

Draw $y=-3x+1$

Set up a table of 3 values of x choosen randomly i.e x = -1 , 0, 1
Find out values of y for each value of x by substituting into the equation of the line.
Plot the points on a graph paper accurately.
Join the 3 points, label the line.

Good in straight line? You might want to check out how you can draw Exponential Graph here even with NO Math knowledge.