Customer Reviews

The Geometer's Sketchpad: Dynamic Geometry Software for Exploring Mathematics

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoy using this program - it's a great way to manipulate geometric objects without having to draw shapes over and over. However, it's difficult to draw exact figures - equilateral triangles, regular pentagons, etc. Also, it has advanced capabilities that aren't easy to figure out. If you are using it for basic geometry or to explore basic concepts, it's great. And, if you have an instructor who is experienced with the program, it's easy to learn. I imagine it's wonderful for the advanced applications, it just might take a while to get the hang of it.

This is a great tool when studying Euclidean Geometry. It works just like a straight edge and compass, except the diagrams can be manipulated afterwards so that one sketch can be used to test multiple cases (acute vs obtuse, for instance) which helps in the observation of geometric properties. The interface is easy to use and quick to learn. On the down side, the program offers very little help, which can be frustrating when you're trying something new. (I have yet to make the Construct Locus function work.)

If you love symmetry, you'll love Geometry and The Geometer's Sketchpad. Once you get the hang of using this program, it is the absolute best learning tool for the subject of Geometry. You can construct any segment, line, ray, circle, angle, triangle, rhombus, square, etc., measure angles or arcs, or have the program find bisectors. Many more functions as well. Everything is neatly displayed for printing. Made very tidy-looking projects.

This sketchpad is a great way to supplement any geometry curriculum. I bought the student version (the only downfall I can find) and you have to put in the cd every time you run the program.

I will use it to demonstrate the Pythagorean theorem and construct basic geometric figures for my middle school curriculum. Very easy to use too! It does link you with additional lessons through NCTM. I will probably purchase the full version next year.

This product is really good for working through classroom problems. It gets a little tougher, if you're not used to the program, for more advanced problems. But it does help even by just using it to mess around with when having to do any geometry problem.

It is a great tool for any student or teacher to have. I used it in my college Geometry class for transformations of line, points, etc and for a polygon shape project. This project involved us making shapes from Triangle to Dodecagons, measuring ever interior angle and suming them; drawing all the diagonals; and constructing all the lattice points, counting them, and finding an equation to find the number of lattice points in a n-gon.
It is a great tool, and I think that every Geometry teacher should have this program, if not every student in Geometry.

This is a great tool for teachers and students. I have been able to save files import them into word and have some great examples of problems for the students I work with. I look forward to when my son is in geometry so he can use it for learning and understanding the subject.

This is a very valuable program to have if you need to create geometric images. It takes a little while to get used to the controls and commands, but once you do you can create very elaborate images with a little effort. This would be especially useful for teachers to use in the classroom to illustrate geometric ideas.

This product is far, far more than a sketchpad. It is a wonderful teaching and learning tool. It exhibits logical behavior, and as such exemplifies object-oriented programming concepts as well as showing geometric principles. This last sentence means: it easily teaches concepts you can talk all day about and accomplish nothing (except "annoy the pig"). It takes a little learning then suddenly it's very powerful. A great teaching tool, a great learning tool. I am buying a new copy for myself after having retired 3 years ago from a couple of years of post-career teaching, because I find it fun and useful both.

Let me give some examples from memory from several years ago:
1. A parabola is the set of points equidistant from a given line and a given point. So you draw the line, the point, and a short segment whose length will represent this (equi-) distance. You construct a circle whose center is the point and whose radius is the same as that segment. You construct a line parallel to your original line but away from it by the length of that same segment. (These are both easy to do in Sketchpad.). You tell Sketchpad to trace the intersections of the circle and the constructed line. Then you grab the end of the segment and thereby lengthen and shorten the segment. As you lengthen and shorten the segment, the circle gets bigger and smaller, and the line moves up and down, and the intersections move accordingly, tracing a perfect parabola! You have just demonstrated construction (some objects you just draw, others you specify logically, and they retain that logical specification). You have shown what a locus is - a trace of all points meeting certain criteria.
(A parabola is also the "envelope" of some series of segments, I forget what, and Sketchpad lets you show that too.)
2. I wanted to make card-stock models of icosahedrons with congruent but non-equilateral triangles. So I created 3 segments for the three sides' lengths. Once I get one drawn perfectly (a LOT of constructing using circles and their intersections) I hide all the nasty confusing busy construction details and get a printable icosahedron model kit. Now, if I want to create a new icosahedron with sides that are different, I just open this saved construction, change the lengths of my three original segments, and print. I have a factory for making any icosahedron.
3. There's something about midpoints of polygons and the segments connecting them. Make a bizarre 9-sided polygon (even nonconvex) and then use Control-M to construct the midpoints of all the sides (in one swell foop); then Control-L (I think) to connect all those midpoints. Keep alternating -M and -L . Try it! (amaze your friends!) (Hint: you'll end up getting closer and closer to an ellipse.)

This computer program is excellent for exploring geometry. Allows you to do virtually anything required in geometry and save your work. Wonderful idea for use in the classroom.