My Math

Portfolio


J






By: Jake McEvoy






Table of Contents
2 3. Letter
4. My Reaction to a story
5. My Corrected Problem
6 - 7. Lab
8 - 12. Test
12 - 13. Homework
14. Notes







My Math Portfolio Letter:

Although Math is not one of my favorite subjects in Newark Academy, I realize now
that I like, and understand it way more than last year. Last year, I was consistently
getting B-s and some C+s, but this year, I am a consistent B+ student! I know I can
do better, and that is what I am trying to do next semester. I am going to try to study
more, and meet with Mr. B more, about the subjects I do not fully understand. I
chose the LHospitals Claim to Fame story to write my reaction on because it was
fun reading it and learning about him, and I also got a perfect score on the true/false
section regarding that story. I chose to correct the x/y and y/x problem, because I
know remember I was already having quite a bit of trouble with it in class, and I
never went for extra help and never asked a question on it. That four point question
would have been the difference between a B+ and an A- for me on that test. I
included the first Lab of the semester in this portfolio, because it was the only lab
that I scored a perfect 10 on! I included the test on the different Algebraic equations,
square roots, absolute values and linear equations because I scored an 89 on it, my
highest scoring test of the semester. I felt like I really understood the material, and
the only reason 11 points were taken off were because of careless errors. Finally, I
included the homework and notes page on Point Slope form because I took very
good notes in class, as you can see, and then I did my homework very well because
of that. This year in Math is almost like science class. We work on the different
material of the unit, take notes on it, do homework, and at the end there is always a
review day, followed by the test. However, I do like math more, because sometimes
in science, projects are due instead of tests. I just find studying for tests easier, and
would like to continue doing so. Math and Science are my two favorite subjects, and
I am glad that they are so alike. I am looking forward to the next semester in math
for the winter!



















Exposing LHospitals Claim to Fame: My Reaction

Exposing LHospitals claim to fame was one of my favorite mathematical scandals
stories we have read so far for many reasons. Unlike some of the other stories, this
one doesnt just involve math, it is also a real interesting story. It involves trickery,
when LHospital steals Leibnizs and Bernoullis formulas and theorems, and
mystery, for it wasnt found out by mathematicians and historians for almost 300
years! I found it funny how in that time period, if you passed of something as your
own, and others didnt know about, they wouldnt take a second, glance. Nowadays,
you would get caught as soon as the original creator saw it and accused you of it!
Because of things like the Internet and cell phones, we can easily tell if this sort of
thing happened, and the person who did it would get put away in jail for a long time,
but LHospital got away with it for almost 300 years! I feel bad for Johann Bernoulli
because his ideas, that he worked on for years were by his good friend. LHospital is
clearly in the wrong, and I am surprised he took his secret to the grave, and never
told anyone that his works were actually Johanns. Now that everyone knows, his
and his descendants reputation will be tainted forever. Overall, I think what
LHospital did was wrong, even if it was pretty clever, I would hate to be Johann
Bernoulli in that situation, trying to tell people that LHospitals work was his, with
no one believing him. I think these stories are interesting and we should definitely
continue doing them.