International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning (2006) 11:361376 DOI: 10.

1007/s10758-006-9105-8 Springer 2006

COMPUTER MATH SNAPSHOTS

ON THE USE OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO PROMOTE STUDENTS MATHEMATICAL THINKING

MANUEL SANTOS-TRIGO

Mathematics Education Center for Research and Advanced Studies Av. IPN 2508, Sn Pedro Zacatenco, 07360 Mexico City, Mexico E-mail: msantos@cinvestav.mx

This column will publish short (from just a few paragraphs to ten or so pages), lively and intriguing computer-related mathematics vignettes. These vignettes or snapshots should illustrate ways in which computer environments have transformed the practice of mathematics or mathematics pedagogy. They could also include puzzles or brain-teasers involving the use of computers or computational theory. Snapshots are subject to peer review. In this snapshot students employ dynamic geometry software to nd great mathematical richness around a seemingly simple question about rectangles. Computer Math Snapshots Editor: Uri Wilensky
Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling Northwestern University, USA E-mail: uri@northwestern.edu

1. INTRODUCTION Recent curriculum proposals recognized the importance for students of using computational tools to comprehend mathematical ideas and solve problems [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
This report is part of a research project that involves high school students use of computational tools in problem solving activities. The author acknowledges the support received by Conacyt, reference #47850.

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(NCTM), 2000]. Since dierent tools may oer students distinct opportunities to represent, explore and solve mathematical problems, it becomes important to identify and discuss types of mathematical reasoning that students might develop as a result of using particular tools. In order to examine the potential of using a particular tool it is important to discuss questions such as: What types of task or problem representations are relevant for students in identifying, constructing, and explaining mathematical relationships? To what extent does the use of particular tools favor the identication and exploration of mathematical relations? Which attributes of mathematical thinking can be enhanced through the use of technology in mathematical problem solving? In this snapshot we discuss aspects of mathematical practice that emerge while solving a problem that involves the construction of a rectangle with the help of computational tools. We show that thinking of dierent approaches to solving the problem represents an opportunity for students to identify and explore diverse mathematical relationships. In this context, thinking about the construction of a rectangle in terms of its properties provides a platform for students to formulate and pursue related questions.

1.1. The Context The task discussed in this report came from a problem-solving seminar in which senior high school students worked on a series of problems in 2 h weekly sessions over the course of one semester. We used Dynamic Geometry software (Cabri) and hand calculators to understand, represent, and work on textbook problems. Students were encouraged to construct dynamic representations of the problems. This enabled them to identify and explore relevant questions which led them to recognize mathematical relationships. This report focuses on describing problem-solving approaches rather than analyzing, in detail, student problem-solving behaviors. Thus, the focus is on characterizing the students approaches that appeared and were discussed as a group or within a learning community that promoted the participation of all its members. We show the relevant questions and mathematical activities that appear in problem-solving episodes: problem formulation; understanding of the task; solution to the problem; relation to similar problems; and reections.

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1.2. First Episode: Problem Formulation What conditions or properties do we need to represent a rectangle? How can we draw a dynamic representation of a rectangle? What type of relationships can we identify between elements or attributes (perimeter, area) within a dynamic representation of a rectangle? These types of questions are important in helping the students to think of a rectangle in terms of its properties to represent those properties dynamically. Indeed, Laborde and Capponi (1994) stated that the use of dynamic software (in our case Cabri) creates an environment in which students develop the notion of gure by focusing on underlying relationships rather than on the particulars of a specic drawing. For example, some properties that are relevant to the construction of a rectangle are that such a gure has pairs of congruent parallel sides, four right angles, perpendicular sides, and equal diagonals, and attributes like area or perimeter. In this context, a question related to the conditions to draw a rectangle was posed by one of the students: Can we construct a rectangle if we know only its perimeter and one of its diagonals? 1.3. Second Episode: Understanding and Making Sense of the Task This involved discussing questions such as: What does it mean geometrically to know the perimeter of a given rectangle? How many rectangles can we construct with xed perimeters? From a family of rectangles with xed perimeters, how can we identify the one that has a given diagonal? How can we represent algebraically all rectangles of a given perimeter? How can we represent algebraically the diagonal of a rectangle in terms of its side? What does it mean algebraically to determine a rectangle, given its perimeter and its diagonal? This discussion led the students to work on two dynamic representations of the problem and one algebraic approach. One dynamic representation relied on representing the perimeter as a segment that was used to generate a family of rectangles with xed perimeters.

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Another dynamic representation involved drawing a family of triangles with perimeters equal to the sum of two sides of the rectangle plus the length of the diagonal. 1.4. Third Episode: The Role of the Tools in Helping Students Represent and Solve the Task 1.4.1. Rectangles with Fixed Perimeters A key aspect in this approach was to construct, using dynamic geometry software, a family of rectangles with xed perimeters. Questions that guided this construction included: How can one have a geometric representation of the perimeter or a diagonal? What information do the perimeter and the diagonal provide about the sides of the rectangle? How is the perimeter information related to the diagonal? The procedure used to build a family of rectangles with xed perimeters is described next: (1) Represent the semi-perimeter of the rectangle as segment AB and choose point Q on it. Thus, segments AQ and QB generate sides EH and EF of a rectangle. With this information students could draw the corresponding rectangle EHGF (Figure 1). This is a dynamic construction in the sense that the sides of drawn rectangles correspond to a particular position of Q on segment AB (any position of Q determines a particular rectangle). (2) Students should notice that by moving point Q along segment AB, a family of rectangles with xed perimeters is generated. As a result, they begin to explore questions like: What is the locus of point G when point Q is moved along AB? The software becomes a powerful tool to determine the path left by point G when Q is moved along AB (Figure 2).The locus of point G when point Q is moved along AB is the segment ST, and when point Q becomes point B, then ET will become segment AB. Similarly, when point Q coincides with point A, segment ES becomes AB. There is an innite number of rectangles having xed perimeters, since, for each position of Q, there is a corresponding rectangle. (3) Within this dynamic representation, students observe that any rectangle inscribed in triangle ETS will have a perimeter equal to

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y 1y 1 x

365
G H

F
1 1

F E

E A

H Q B

Q B

Figure 1. Moving point Q along segment AB generates a family of rectangles with xed perimeters.

Sy

F
1 1

T H

E A
Figure 2.

Locus of vertex G when point Q is moved along AB.

2(AB). With the use of the software it is easy to determine the dimensions of the rectangles sides inscribed in the right triangle EST. They can also observe that they could inscribe two congruent rectangles in triangle EST, except when the rectangle becomes a square (Figure 3). Students complete the construction of the rectangle by drawing a circle centered on point E and a radius the length of the given diagonal. The intersections of the circle with segment ST represent the vertices of the required rectangles. Figure 3 shows that rectangles EONM and EHGF are sought rectangles. What happens when the circle does not intersect segment ST? Is there any relationship between the perimeter and the diagonal to insure the construction of the rectangle? Students observe that when the circle with center E and radius of the given diagonal intersects segment ST at only one point G, the rectangle is a square (EHGF) (Figure 4) and any other circle with radius less than diagonal EG will not intercept segment ST. When the circle only touches one point of

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M F
1

N
1.47 cm

U
2.35 cm

Z
3.03 cm

2.15 cm

G Tx B

O
1

1.47 cm

E A

3.03 cm

H Q

Diagonal segment
Figure 3. Construction of rectangles inscribed in triangle EST.

Sy

F
1

G
2.20 cm
1 2.20 cm

Tx H Q B

E A

Diagonal length
Figure 4. The length of the diagonal determines the existence of one, two or no rectangles.

segment ST, then the radius of this circle represent the minimum value of the diagonal to guarantee the existence of the desired rectangle. 1.4.2. Construction of the Rectangle via the Construction of Triangles A group of students explores the construction of the rectangle in terms of drawing a family of triangles with a perimeter equal to the sum of two sides of the rectangle plus the length of the given diag-

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R

P Q C

P Q C

A C'

A C'

Figure 5. Left Generating a family of triangles; right What is the locus of point C when point Q is moved along PR?

onal. In this case, the given diagonal AB represented a xed side of the triangle and the other two sides of the triangle as the semiperimeter of the rectangle (segment PR). The main steps to achieve the construction are summarized next: (1) Segment AB represents the given diagonal, and segment PR is the rectangles semi-perimeter and Q any point on PR. Draw two circles, one with its center at A and radius PQ and the other with its center at B and radius QR. These two circles are intersected at C and C and triangle ABC is drawn. Indeed, for each position of point Q a triangle is generated (Figure 5, left). (2) By moving point Q along PR, students observe that vertex C left a particular path. What is the locus of points C and C when point Q is moved along PR? Students use the available software to determine that the locus of points C and C when Q is moved along PR is an ellipse (foci A and B and constant PR) (Figure 5, right). Again, there are innite numbers of triangles such that AC + CB is constant; however, students were interested in nding the triangle with angle ACB equal to a right angle. To nd it, students drew a circle centered on the middle point of the diagonal AB, with a radius of half the diagonal. That is, they used a result previously studied: if a triangle is inscribed in a circle and one of its sides is a diameter, then the opposite angle to this side is a right angle. Thus, the intersections of the ellipse and the circle determine the vertices of the right triangles (Figure 6, left). Figure 6, right, represents two positions of the desired rectangle. While examining the dynamic representation, students should notice that there are cases in which angle ACB never becomes a right angle (Figure 7). In this case it can be observed that the circle, with center at mid-point of AB and radius of half AB, does not intersect the ellipse.

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P
P Q C A C' D' B R

R C Q D'

A
D

B D

C'
Figure 6.

Left Identifying right triangles; right drawing two rectangles.

P C

C'

Figure 7.

Case without right angle.

1.4.3. Algebraic Approach Yet another approach used by some students to draw the rectangle involved the use of algebraic procedures. They used x and y to represent the sides of the possible rectangle and expressed the corresponding equations associated with the given conditions (Figure 8). How can the expression be represented graphically? How can the system of equations be solved? How can we interpret the solutions? Students can now recognize that one expression represents a line and the other a circle with center the origin and radius the value of the diagonal (D). By taking particular values for P and D (Figure 9), students can represent the system geometrically. yx P 2

x2 y2 D2

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2 x x
2

y y
2

P D2
y D

Symbolic representation x Pictorial representation

Figure 8.

Translating properties of the rectangle into algebraic expressions.

y

y = -x + P/2

x2 + y2 = D2
1 1

Figure 9.

Graphic representation of the equations.

To solve the system of equations, students could use their calculators and discuss conditions for the existence of solutions. They could then recognize that the circle might intersect the line at one point, in the case of a square, two points, as in Figure 8, or have no intersection points. Figure 10 shows the general solution of the system and a particular solution when P takes the value of 14 and D the value of 5. Students may then conclude that, to guarantee the solution of the p system, it must hold that 8d2 ) p2 0; that is, d ! p: Figure 11 shows 8 p that, when d p8, the system has one solution and it means that the constructed gure will be a square. Figure 12 represents the graph of y x 7 and x2 y2 p 14= 82 : The coordinates of the intersection points represent the 14 dimensions of the square with perimeter 14 and diagonal p. 8 1.5. Fourth Episode: Relations to Similar Problems Based on the solution to the task that involves inscribing a family of rectangles in a right triangle, a question was posed to the students:

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Figure 10.

Solution of the system of equations.

p Figure 11. When d p; there is only one solution to the system. 8

14 Figure 12. The system has one solution when P = 14 and D = p. 8

Does the area of those inscribed rectangles change or is it constant as is the value of their perimeter? If the area changes then where does it reach its maximum value? Using the software, students calculate the area of some inscribed rectangles to investigate the behavior of the areas of these rectangles. Students would notice that, if they moved point C along segment ST, the areas associated with the corresponding rectangles changed (Figure 13). Here, students represented the area variation through the use of two related representations: a discrete table and a graph representation (Figure 14).

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y y

371

y = -x + 7

y=-x+7

D
14.00 cm

C
( 3.00, 4.00 )

D
14.00 cm

C
( 5.00, 2.00 )

12.00 cm2 1 1

1 1

10.00 cm

Figure 13. Identication of area changes.

y ( 3.50, 12.25 )

S
y = -x +7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

( Side AB 1.00 2.00 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 5.50 6.00 6.50

(Side AD 6.00 5.00 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50

Area of ABCE 6.00 10.00 12.00 12.25 12.00 11.25 10.00 8.25 6.00 3.25

D
14.00 cm 3.50 cm
1 1

y = -x2 + 7x

( 3.50, 3.50 )

12.25 cm2

A 3.50 cm

Figure 14.

Graphical representation of the rectangles areas.

It is important to mention that students could generate the graph of the area function without relying on its algebraic expression. Based on this graphical representation, students could observe that any line parallel to the X-axis intersects the graph either at two points, or one point or there is no intersection at all. Here, they

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Figure 15. Graphical representation of the function area.

would notice that, when there is only one point of intersection, the parallel line is tangential to the function area and, in this case, there is a maximum value. The table in Figure 14 shows that, for x = 3.50 (the length of side AB), the graph reaches its maximum value of 12.25. In an algebraic context, when the given perimeter is 14 units, the equation of the line becomes y = )x + 7, whose domain is the interval (0, 7). Thus, for any x value on that interval, then the corresponding area of the inscribed rectangle with side x will be (x)()x + 7) = )x2 + 7x. Here, students could recognize that this expression represented a parabola, and they utilized the calculator to represent it graphically. On the graph, they located the maximum value of the area directly (Figure 15). Another question that students were asked to discuss was: What if we now have the area (instead of the perimeter) and the diagonal as data; can we also draw the corresponding rectangle? Students could commence by assigning particular numbers to the value of the area and the diagonal to represent graphically both equations with the help of the software. Thus, they represent graphically the circle x2 + y2 = 52 and y 12 and identify the x intersection points as the vertices of the desired rectangle (Figure 16). Students may observe that the intersections of line y = )x + 7 and the graph of the area function (y 12) are exx actly the points that gave the dimensions of the rectangles that were asked-for (Figure 17). That is, the rectangle with area 12 cm and diagonal 5 cm has dimensions or sides of lengths 3 cm and 4 cm. The graphical representation leads them to explore the variation in the perimeters of those rectangles whose one vertex lies on the area

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x2 + y2 = 52 ( 3.00, 4.00 )

( 4.00, 3.00 )

4.00 cm 1 1

5.00 cm

Area = 12.00 cm2

3.00 cm x

Figure 16. Construction of rectangles with given area and diagonal.

y

P
y = 12/x

D
12.00 cm2

( 3.00, 4.00 ) ( 4.00, 3.00 )

14.00 cm
1 1

12.00 cm2 14.00 cm y = -x + 7

Figure 17. Two rectangles with the given condition.

graph. Again, the software becomes a powerful tool to determine the graph of the perimeter and nd where this graph approaches its minimum value (Figure 18).

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2x2 - xy + 24 = 0

Area of
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Side AB 2.59 2.74 3.02 3.26 3.40 3.60 3.74 3.89 4.02 4.25 Side BC 4.64 4.38 3.98 3.69 3.53 3.33 3.21 3.09 2.98 2.82 ABCE 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 Perimeter 14.45 14.24 13.99 13.88 13.86 13.87 13.90 13.95 14.01 14.15

xy - 12 = 0

D
2.82 cm 1

C
12.00 cm2 14.15 cm

4.26 cm

Figure 18. Identifying the rectangle with minimum perimeter.

1.6. Reections It is important to identify themes and features of mathematics practice that appear as relevant during the development of the problem-solving sessions: (1) Formulation of questions: The use of the software demands that students think of mathematical objects in terms of their properties. This may encourage students to formulate and explore distinct type of questions. For example, the question Can we construct a rectangle if we know only its perimeter and one of its diagonals? might emerge when students discuss ways to represent this gure using the dynamic software commands. (2) Dynamic representations: The use of the software may help students to identify and explore fundamental mathematical relationships. For example, moving a point on a segment that represents the semi-perimeter should lead students to recognize that the locus of one vertex of the rectangle is a segment. This segment is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, and all rectangles inscribed in that right triangle have the same perimeter (Figure 2). Here, students would not only associate geometric

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meaning to a particular case (the family of rectangles with xed perimeters) but also pose and explore other questions: How does the area of those rectangles change? Where does the area reach its maximum value? (3) Connections: Can we represent the problem in dierent ways? Students are encouraged to look for dierent ways to represent and solve the problems. For example, when students focus on constructing a family of triangles by taking the given diagonal as one side and the sum of the other two sides as one segment, then they would recognize that they are dealing with the denition of an ellipse. Here, they also rely on the use of a mathematical result previously studied to identify from that family of generated triangles those that were right triangles to construct the desired rectangle. Thus, the use of the software oers students the opportunity to apply and relate concepts that they may have studied in subjects like algebra, analytic geometry, and calculus (Santos-Trigo, 2006). (4) Use of dierent tools: The use of calculators represents an opportunity for students to relate particular representations of the problem to a general model of the situation. The use of this tool is also important for dealing with algebraic operations and visualizing graphically some mathematical relationships. Thus, students are able to explain and express, in general terms, for example, conditions for the construction of the rectangle and then to validate results that emerge from representing the problem dynamically. That is, rather than privileging the use of one tool, students should be encouraged to utilize more than one computational tool to identify and support mathematical results (NCTM, 2000). (5) Line of thinking: The systematic use of both dynamic software and calculators helps students to recognize that initial questions, posed by the students themselves, can be approached and examined from dierent perspectives. As a result, they have the opportunity to examine and contrast dierent types of representations, which allows them to go beyond reaching a single solution and to pose and explore other related questions. For example, while working with dynamic representations, in addition to visualizing the behavior of some mathematical relations, students could operate with quantities assigned to some parts of the construction (segments lengths, angles measurements,

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perimeters, and areas) without using algebraic representations. This process becomes important for students to identify mathematical relations and their meaning. (6) Mathematical richness: A simple question that involves the construction of a rectangle provides conditions for students to explore and reect on the use of distinct concepts and representations to examine mathematical relationships and their meaning. Here, the students use of the tools seems to facilitate not only the identication of interesting mathematical relations but also the meaning associated with various types of representation of the problem. In short, thinking of dierent ways to solve a problem, and exploring connections and relationships of the original statement, seems to be a crucial activity that all students should engage in during their mathematical learning (Schoenfeld, 1985). REFERENCES
Laborde, C. and Capponi, B. (1994). Cabri-Geometre constituant dun milieu pour lapprentissage de la notion de gure geometrique. DidaTech Seminar 150: 175218. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Santos-Trigo, M. (2006). Dynamic representation, connections and meaning in mathematical problem solving. For the Learning of Mathematics 26(1): 2125. Schoenfeld, A.H. (1985) Mathematical Problem Solving. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.