This must be trivial but I’m new and can’t see it. I have a graphing calculator page that lets a student see the motion of a (very hypothetical) rocket experiencing constant proper acceleration to a defined end velocity on a spacetime diagram as a teaching aid for special relativity.
I’ve imported that into an activity so that I can add it to a collection and share it with individuals and also hide the messy workings. However I need to expose the controls for the length, observer speed, acceleration and final speed where they can move a slider or perhaps type in a value (like the ½√3 value shown).
I had expected to see a slider control in the activity options but there doesn’t seem to be one
You can make your own sliders out of points within the graph that students are able to drag back and forth. If you set the point to move only left/right or up/down and then tie the coordinates of the point to something, the students will be able to manipulate the values.
If you want students to be able to enter specific numbers, you could have a math input box or a table where any inputs are tied in to the graph.
I’ve got a group activity here: U7 Linear Programming Intro: Apples vs Pears • Activity Builder by Desmos Classroom that introduces the need for linear programming for optimization. It’s meant for an entire class, so the end results will be kind of lame. But you can dissect Screen 2 to see how the points are used to drag things back and forth. It’s the same concept as making your own slider, only you have a point on a line instead of at the end of a rectangle.
I’ve also got this activity U6.2 Creating Slope-Intercept Form • Activity Builder by Desmos Classroom that utilizes both math input boxes (Screen 6-7) to affect graphs as well as polygons (triangles) on the graphs that are clickable and can affect both the graph and what students see on the screens (Screens 2-5). The latter uses the Run command on the polygons. Feel free to steal, cut, trim, dissect, etc.
Thank you so much Laura, these are really easy to follow. I have over 400 calculator solutions but it’s my first foray into the classroom environment. I realised I could do my own with clickable objects but hoped there was something already in-built. Your examples are really helpful.
If you don’t have any other components on the screen, you can convert your full-screen graph to a graphing calculator graph. If there are any folders you don’t want in the sidebar, click the “Hide this folder from students.” checkbox.
Thanks Daniel, that’s the quickest for me. I created the activity by importing an existing graphing calculator solution but i didnt kniw you could expose the controls while hiding the folders.
It’s pretty nice, not just for hiding folders that might break things if edited, but just cleaning it up to only the necessary sliders (and possibly instructions).
