Ap Calculus Term Papers

I think it is safe to say math has always been a passion of mine. I remember learning to count to 1000 in first grade. When I was finally able to do it without any help, it was like swimming for the first time, eating the ripe tomatoes I grew myself, or putting together a new song on the guitar. The feeling of accomplishment cannot be recreated. As we get older, this feeling becomes more difficult to achieve. This only increases my motivation and determination to learn something new. AP calculus has been a roller coaster of learning. Despite the struggle and rigor, I learned valuable skills that will help me in my future aspirations. Taking the AP Calculus exam gave me a rush of accomplishment. I have built a knowledge base because I am constantly

For the past three years of my high school career, and now my fourth, I have made it an obligation to continually expand my horizons in regards to math; when I cannot fully grasp an idea or concept, rather than giving up, I relentlessly pursue the idea until it is understood. During freshman year, math did not come easily to me. I was forced to go in early some days because, simply, I did not comprehend the concepts. However, taking initiative with my school work, and constantly working through problems that were difficult can be deemed one of the best decisions I have made. Although my final grade may not have been an

Being the oldest of four children, it was always hard me to learn things fast. My parents weren’t able to help me with schoolwork because they both dropped out of school at a very young age. As I entered high school, I was terrified of all the hard classes I would be taking. Although I am not the best in every subject, a topic in which I have excelled in is Mathematics.

Math had always been the easy, simple subject for me until calculus suddenly turned math into a terribly fascinating new world for me to explore. My paradigm regarding the seemingly rigid discipline shifted from indifference to a desire to learn how the puzzle pieces of the world clicked and fitted together. I hoped to spread that sentiment by establishing Mu Alpha Theta at my school, a chartering process that I expected to last at most two months.

My passion for mathematics was fixed at the age of ten, on the morning that my mathematics teacher told I would be sitting the Junior Maths Challenge, 'as practice for when you are older'. As I nervously started to answer the questions, a whole world began to open before me. I revelled in the problem solving, answering questions of a nature I had not seen before. My teachers were delighted when I emerged from the exam hungry for more. Since then I have consistently demonstrated my aptitude, achieving gold awards through to senior level, and scoring highly in the European Kangaroo.

Tynan statement, “…you’ll have to push yourself hard to work even when you don’t like it” resonates with me. I have always been a fairly decent student, tried my hardest in all my classes, but for some reason without fail Algebra and I have never connected. For as long as I can remember I have struggled with math, it’s always been my weak link in school. I know may people enjoy math, but to me it’s a lot of work. Now I am having to relearn Algebra and I don’t like it, but in order to achieve my goal of becoming a physician assistant this is the course I must stay. Maybe Tynan is right and by the end of this I will have learned to love math.

The benefits and opportunities to embrace engineering far outweigh the difficulties in the process, but despite this, my pure love for mathematics has been the major contributor to my ambitions. From a young age, I found math incredibly enjoyable. The order and consistency found through something as simple as the order of operations served as a driving force to my curiosity and dedication to the subject. As the mathematical concepts intensified, I was able to adequately keep up and enjoy the journey along the way. While signing up for my senior year classes, the decision to take calculus was made easily. While speaking with the instructor, Yvonne Sebastian, I discovered that her love for math was derived from similar feelings. In an interview with Sebastian, she stated, “Math is a beautiful thing. Numbers are incredibly simple, but they can be used to calculate very complex scenarios. No matter how difficult a problem may seem, there is always a solution, an answer that can be found and understood through the power of math” (Y. Sebastian, personal communication, February 14, 2017). Interacting with a teacher who understood to a great level of degree my similar feelings regarding math has been an incredible motivator in my desire to pursue a career which incorporates mathematics frequently. For any individual to be happy with their occupation, I would argue that they must experience a desire to progress

High school and college students shouldn’t be required to take a class where over half of them fail. A student should be able to have a choice over whether they can take a class with more conceptual ideas for a challenge, or if they would like to take a class that could be more beneficial in the real world. Plus what a student thinks will be more beneficial differs between each one. However, it’s very unlikely that most students would even apply the lessons they learn in algebra II to their daily lives. Some examples of useless math would be factoring, polynomials, matrices, geometric proofs, and the entirety of calculus. These things are just not used by a majority of people in their daily lives. At some point people just forget about what they learned in algebra II and calculus. Students in high school can even have trouble remembering some of the lessons they learned in prior

The second semester of this course made me question my passion for math. I understood concepts and the curriculum but I would never do well in the practice AP Tests my teacher gave us weekly. The tests would be curved tremendously and the grades I received were a lie. 9/45 does not equal a 70%. I felt true resentment.

Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).

Formulas, factoring, derivatives: math topics make many people cringe and are viewed difficult to endure when learning these boring concepts. On the other hand,

students eyes to a world of mathematics that they never before could have even began to

As a mathematics major, the concept that most people overlook is that I did not choose to study mathematics because I do well at it; I chose to study mathematics because it makes me smarter. In fact, all throughout junior high and high school I was in remedial mathematics classes and worse, I did not even place into a freshman year mathematics class in high school. I had to re-take 8th grade mathematics. However, something about mathematics excited me. Maybe it was the fact that mathematics never came easy to me and I wanted to prove to myself that not only could I pass mathematics classes, I could actually understand and excel at them. For me, mathematics is not about the arbitrary numbers, trivial solutions, meaningless formulas, or repetitive computation: it is about the progress of knowledge and human understanding.

In junior High School, things started to turn around for me. Although I was still placed in lower level classes, I developed a love for learning. In the years to come from Junior High to High School, I had a strong urge to make up for lost time. One class I started to excel in was the one I used to have the most trouble with, Mathematics. It seemed as though the once boring and complex equations now seemed meaningful and simple. As I progressed into 8th grade, I was able to advance to normal classes. I felt that the hard work I put in was finally paying of. At this point, I felt that I could handle a higher level. At the end of 8th grade, I took the necessary procedures and tests to try and get into honor - level courses in 9th grade. After taking a summer course of Algebra 1 and several tests I was able to succeed and take the classes. The experience was great. I felt that I was finally going the right direction

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.