Landscape in Geogebra and Desmos
Overview
GeoGebra has many different tools that can accomplish a variety of different things. One of these is we can make landscapes from it and give the interactive tool to students to calculate 2D objects area and 3D objects surface area.
This photo is an example of a landscape I made with GeoGebra. Using the different GeoGebra tools I constructed a car and a house and gave the sides specific lengths.
Here is a landscape in Desmos. This is made by functions instead of geometric shapes like in GeoGebra. On the left we can see the functions, but we can also hide it. Along with that, we can hide or show the grid and/or axis.
Grade 8
This directly applies to the grade 8 curriculum Shape and Space (Measurement) specifically number 3. Students should be able to figure out the surface area and area of 2D and 3D shapes.
Students will:
- Explain, using examples, the relationship between the area of 2-D shapes and the surface area of a given 3-D object.
- Identify all the faces of a given prism, including right rectangular and right triangular prisms.
- Identify all the faces of a given right cylinder.
- Describe and apply strategies for determining the surface area of a given right rectangular or
right triangular prism.
- Describe and apply strategies for determining the surface area of a given right cylinder.
- Solve a given problem involving surface area.
30-2
This applies directly to the 30-2 Relations and Functions specifically numbers 4-8. Students must understand what logarithms, exponents, polynomials, and sinusoidal functions are in order to create landscapes in Desmos. Also, if they are not given the formulas, they must be able to recognize what they look like.
Sample Questions:
Grade 8:
The teacher can ask the students to determine the area of the car and the house. They can then ask to imagine it as a 3D object and calculate the surface area under certain conditions.
Grade 12:
The teacher can ask the students to build their own landscape or they can show a landscape and get the students to analyze it and see how many different functions they can see.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I really like both of these programs for different reasons. I like the GeoGebra because students can interactively calculate the area and move things around. In Desmos I like how you can hide and show different functions and you have to know the functions to use them and recognize them.