Great article Mike - thank you so much! Another cool use of Desmos relates to a question from one of the DSAT Bluebook tests. It asks you to (basically) find the unknown number that makes the mean equal to the median for a set of numbers. A bit tedious with algebra but a snap with Desmos. You would type in one line in Demos mean(2,3,4,5,x)=median(2,3,4,5,x). (Not the numbers from the problem.)
You can also use it for percents which I think will help a lot of students for whom percents are mysterious. When you type the % symbol, it automatically inserts "of." So if the question asks what is 75% of 253, you just type 75% (it inserts of) 253 = x. Or for a different question, you can type 35=72% (it inserts of) x, and Desmos will calculate it.
Great article Mike - thank you so much! Another cool use of Desmos relates to a question from one of the DSAT Bluebook tests. It asks you to (basically) find the unknown number that makes the mean equal to the median for a set of numbers. A bit tedious with algebra but a snap with Desmos. You would type in one line in Demos mean(2,3,4,5,x)=median(2,3,4,5,x). (Not the numbers from the problem.)
You can also use it for percents which I think will help a lot of students for whom percents are mysterious. When you type the % symbol, it automatically inserts "of." So if the question asks what is 75% of 253, you just type 75% (it inserts of) 253 = x. Or for a different question, you can type 35=72% (it inserts of) x, and Desmos will calculate it.