Just The Ruler Missing. Love To Draw With Those Tools!

So I just finished my CALC 2 class with the highest marks in the class and I wanted to put together a “guide” on how to study for calculus. It doesn’t matter if you are taking AP Calculus or Calculus in college, this guide should be a general overview but I will mention some specifics to AP Calc. *Picture from my Calculus lecture. 

General Tips

Buy the AP CALC review books. Regardless of whether you are in college calculus or actually in AP Calculus, the review books are great in condensing materials and having good examples. 

Create your own cheat sheet. Every time you learn a new formula or theorem, write it down in a cheat sheet. This forces you to recall the information constantly.

Know your common derivatives and common integrals like the back of your hand.

Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, Part I & II? Yeah, it’s fundamental. Need to know that. 

Common limits? Yep, that too. 

Know your pre-calc and algebra by heart. The hardest thing about calculus is not the formulas and theorems, but recalling past materials to solve a problem. If you could easily recognize trigonometric identities, you would be well set for the class.

Know what trig graphs look like and what they approach, etc. 

Learn how to do the math without a calculator. Some professors don’t let you use calculators on the tests and when you are become too dependent on the calculator, you tend to forget how to do simple addition/subtraction and multiplication/division. Also, there is a non-calculator portion to the AP Calculus Exam, so don’t make your calculator your crutch.

Practice every day + do your homework. A little practice everyday goes a long way and doing your homework (even if it doesn’t count as a grade) can be a drastic way of improving your grades because chances are, your teacher knows you probably aren’t going to do the homework and will have test questions very similar to the homework questions. 

Show all your work. Write all the steps out. If you make a mistake mentally, your whole answer will be wrong. To decrease the chances of loosing points for careless errors, label everything, even if it tedious. Also, work shown can count towards partial credit on tests. 

Practice the problems from your textbook + problems outside your textbook.

Understand and review old tests. When you get your tests back, redo the whole test on another sheet of paper. Try to understand where you went wrong. Was it a simple math calculation error? Did you do the derivative wrong? Was the theorem wrong? Did you forget a step like checking for conditions to apply L’hopitals Rule or Alternating Series Test for Convergence? Whatever it is, go through the entire test (yes, even the ones you got right) and re-do it. 

Ask for help when you don’t understand something. Solving tough calculus problems are easier when working with a group on a white board because you get a fresh set of eyes and a new mindset/approach to a problem. If you cannot tackle a problem, regardless of how many ways you have tried, it’s best to ask someone who already knows how to do it. 

Resources for AP CALC

Buy review books. Honestly, this is self-explanatory. I usually would go with a Barron review book, but hey, what ever works with you. 

Do the previously released AP Calc exams. If you are a BC student, do the release exams for both AB and BC for more practice. 

Previously released AB Exams

Previously released BC Exams

Step-by-step explanations for free response questions release

AB Study Guide

Cheat Sheets + Other Resources

I advise you to print out the cheat sheets and place it in the front of your calculus binder/notebook or where it can be easily accessed. 

Cheat Sheets

AP Calculus Stuff You Must Know Cold 

This 2-page cheat sheet is honestly god gifted and I advise you to print it out and laminate or something and put it in the front of your calc binder/notes. Will definitely save your life. 

Algebra Cheat Sheet 

Trigonometric Cheat Sheet

Calculus Cheat Sheet

Derivatives and Limits

Integrals

Online Tutorials + Videos

Khan Academy

Differential Calculus

Integral Calculus

Paul’s Online Math Notes

HippoCampus

Online Calculators

Symbolab’s Calculus Calculator

The most beautiful thing to ever exist when you are checking your answers or looking for the steps on how to do a problem.

Don’t rely on it too much. Actually learn how to do it. 

Wolfram Alpha

Implicit Differentiation Calculator

Desmos Online Graphing Calculator

Bet you don’t know how to graph an x-function on that TI-84 without solving it out for y. But it’s cool, neither do I. That’s why I rely on Desmos’ Online Graphing Calculator.

Wolfram shows off :)

So Google does math for you??

division

square roots

dividing percentages

IT EVEN FOILS

beautiful.

Neet way to learn matrixmultiplication!

An interactive matrix multiplication calculator for educational purposes

matrixmultiplication.xyz

“One day it just snapped in my mind how the number of rows of the first matrix has to match the number of columns in the second matrix, which means they must perfectly align when the second matrix is rotated by 90°. From there, the second matrix trickles down, “combing” the values in the first matrix. The values are multiplied and added together. In my head, I called this the “waterfall method”, and used it to perform my calculations in the university courses. It worked.”

A sphere made out of straight lines! Beautiful! 

Hypotrocoid

http://www.malinc.se/math/trigonometry/spirographen.php

Got two Mongolian friends here at work if you want me to ask them? :)

Here’s my first attempt at Mongolian calligraphy.

I would greatly appreciate feedback.

How beautiful! 

Fibonacci you crazy bastard….

As seen in the solar system (by no ridiculous coincidence), Earth orbits the Sun 8 times in the same period that Venus orbits the Sun 13 times! Drawing a line between Earth & Venus every week results in a spectacular FIVE side symmetry!!

Lets bring up those Fibonacci numbers again: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34..

So if we imagine planets with Fibonacci orbits, do they create Fibonacci symmetries?!

You bet!! Depicted here is a:

2 sided symmetry (5 orbits x 3 orbits)

3 sided symmetry (8 orbits x 5 orbits)

5 sided symmetry (13 orbits x 8 orbits) - like Earth & Venus

8 sided symmetry (21 orbits x 13 orbits)

I wonder if relationships like this exist somewhere in the universe….

Read the Book    |    Follow    |    Hi-Res    -2-    -3-    -5-    -8-

Wow, this story is my hope for humanity! Keep it up and keep doing what you do, Mathed-potatoes! :)

People never cease to amaze me in every way. 

Today, we had an emergency response drill. This involves flashing lights and loud sounds. I have a neurological disorder that makes this type of even very uncomfortable. 

The hour before this drill, I had an incredibly disappointing interaction with one of my work supervisors. My reaction was much stronger than I might have anticipated on a theoretical level, and I was still reeling when the drill started… so I didn’t take steps to avoid the sensory barrage. The loud noises happen first, and I was already starting to spiral the drain. 

And then…

And then one of my students caught my attention. She told me the lights were about to start flashing, and asked if I needed to go outside. I was so far gone I couldn’t really process how to do the ‘get outside’ thing. Like, I couldn’t find ‘outside.’ So she sherpa’d me to safety, just in time to avoid the flashy lights that would have triggered a full meltdown. 

So, here’s the thing: I have mentioned my disorder to her once, in passing, by name only. She literally remembered that I had a condition, and took steps to know what emergency protocol I might need in certain situations. I thanked her profusely, and asked how she had learned to be so sensitive to stuff like that. She told me she has a younger sister with a disability, and so she understands how significant the timely attention of a knowledgeable ally can be. 

It is significant. It makes a world of difference. 

She saved the day for me. 

She kept me from having to leave in the middle of the day, from having to cancel my afternoon discussions. 

And, at that particular moment, when I was still shocked by an instance of the human capacity to harm, she reminded that their capacity to help, to be compassionate, to care about one another, is far greater still.

Animal Gaits for Animators by Stephen Cunnane

Oh, so your from Denmark then, or maybe its “Skåne” ? :)

Hey all. Here in Sweden some of our preschools teaches signlanguage. It’s a really good compliment and the kids rock it like they never did anything else. I know Swedsh signlanguage because of my sisters deaf kid. Its a wonderfful way to communicate. Love the bodylanguage that comes with it! Take care!  

Reblog if you think sign language should be taught as a language in schools.