Math 3: Pre-Calc Chapter: The Ellipse

Name: Ryan Ackles

Date: April 19, 2017

Please upload your notes and problem sets to this document. Make sure I can read the notes and see
your problem set. In addition, please answer the following questions:
What did you grapple with?
What habit of a mathematician did you use and why?

Beautiful Notes and Problem Set

What did you grapple with?

I grappled in the beginning with being aware and knowledgable on how to set up the ellipse formula
and recognizing the relationships between the x and y variables along with the a, b, and c variables.
Though this was probably the best example for me in any Honors work/unit so far of taking my time
with the content and piecing things together as the textbook pages explained all about ellipses. By
uncovering this key information, such as major and minor axes, creating a fraction and using
cross-multiplication to plot the points, and actually learning how to graph an ellipse, I genuinely feel
like I was able to use my new findings to my benefit and successfully learn about a new
mathematical concept from start to finish. Now, I feel like I can turn this type of equation into a
graph and vice versa.

What habit of a mathematician did you use and why?

Throughout this process, I was able to use the habit of a mathematician Start Small, but not in the
way one might think. The idea of starting small in a mathematical sense usually pertains to the
beginning the end work in a single problem or set of problems. While this was true for me as well, I
more importantly was able to start small within the entire unit and go from having not familiarity with
ellipses and elliptical formulas and ways of graphing to becoming an expert in this area. This was
arguably one of my proudest learning moments of the whole year, especially considering that this
process only took a short amount of time to complete. I am extremely happy with the work and
effort that I placed into this experience, and I look forward to building on top of this as I continue to
examine more new ideas in math.