A Watched Cup Never Cools

• A Watched Cup Never Cools features 19 blackline-master activities and 11 writing assignments.
• Students investigate functions, continuity, critical points, limits, and other core calculus topics.
• Activities use inexpensive, everyday items like Tootsie Roll Pops as well as graphing calculators, electronic data-gathering devices, and Dynamic Mathematics software. Calculus comes to life with such interesting activities as exploring topographical maps to calculate the volume of a lake and determining how quickly a pollutant can be eliminated. Students "watch" a cup of hot liquid cool to find the rate of change in temperature. Many of these hands-on activities are designed as group investigations. Students sharpen their writing skills as they learn to present their findings in a standard lab-report format. They are encouraged to reflect on the ways in which calculus and precalculus concepts relate to their lives and to the world around them. You will be pleased with the additional insight into problem solving students exhibit as they describe and analyze activities in writing. Use these assignments for:
• Journal-writing prompts
• Alternative assessments
• Extracurricular projects
• Review for tests Author Ellen Kamischke has used the lab activities and writing assignments in A Watched Cup Never Cools with her own students. She provides charts that outline the concepts on which particular activities focus, as well as recommendations for individual, pair, or group work for each activity. An extensive Note to Teachers and samples of student work in the teachers notes offer helpful guidance.