What's Geometry Got To Do With It?

Each week or two there is a movie to watch (on the Internet and about 5 minutes long on the average) and a movie paper to write. Four are required for semester. Any more will help you earn extra credit. Please submit these on the Geometry Moodle Site

Take a few minutes (these will be short movies) and watch the movie and do a little research (use a book, a magazine, another Internet site, etc.) and then write a paper at least one page long if word processed or 2 pages if hand-written. Please do not hand in a list of questions and answers. Use a narrative style with paragraphs and complete sentences. Submit your final paper to the Geometry Moodle Site on or before midnight on the due date.

What's MATH got to do with the subject of the movie? (2 points)
What Geometry concepts appear to be related to the subject of the movie? For ideas, look in your calculus book after watching the movie. Be specific and use geometry vocabulary. (3 points)
Would you like to have this job? Why or why not? (1 point)
What occupations (2 or more) that use math would be applicable to the Calculus and the subject of the movie? Need more info for your papers about careers?
Read interviews on the career page!(2 points)
What did you find most interesting, what was new to you, and/or did it make you think differently about math in the "real world"? (2 points)
Please remember to cite your sources. There must be at least one other source in addition to the movie website - another related website or magazine/newspaper article or other print material.(-1 if they are not given!)
If your paper does not meet the following requirements -1 point .
*Word-processed written paper must be at least one page long using a 12-point or smaller font (such as Times New Roman), not more than 1" margins, and double-spaced. (submit these on Moodle)
*Hand-written paper must be two pages hand-written.

Check very carefully and pay attention to due dates for Movie Papers! No late papers will be accepted.

You are responsible for uploading any required papers and extra credit. It is preferred that you submit your papers on the Moodle Site!
There may not be any reminders in class.

Have fun and learn
"What's Geometry got to do with it?"
Need more info for your papers about careers?
Read interviews on the career page!

Movies to Watch - Movies highlighted in a green box and with due dates that have not expired can be viewed in order to write your movie paper. Make sure to upload these to Moodle to receive credit (or extra credit) this semester!	Paper submitted on Moodle BEFORE MIDNIGHT on
Current Movies and their deadlines are now being posted on the Moodle site for this class!
Sunglasses and Science Watch the Movie The Zeiss Company was founded in Germany over a hundred and fifty years ago when Carl Zeiss began producing some of the first microscopes designed around solid optical theory and physics rather than trial and error. To this day, Zeiss remains one of the most respected names in optics. The company has helped define the state-of-the-art in binoculars, camera lenses, medical imaging, and even the optical instruments that power planetariums. Go inside a Zeiss facility in Northern Italy for a rare look at the science and technology behind designing, testing and manufacturing lenses for high-end sports performance sunglasses.	Nov. 30
Recycling: Winning the War on Waste Watch the movie Each person in the U.S. generates about 25 pounds of garbage a week. That might not seem like much, but it means the nation's population produces nearly two hundred million tons of residential garbage every single year. Fortunately, up to 80% of that can actually be recycled. Go behind the scenes with a Strategic Planner for the City of Seattle to see how they are tackling the problem.	Nov. 23
End of the Semester... Did you get your four movie papers in? How about some for extra credit?

1st Semester Movies - some listed are Past their Deadlines
*The Shape of Phones*The term “cell phone” is rapidly becoming archaic as mobile devices go well beyond voice and text messaging, to include e-mail, cameras, web access and features of conventional computers. That translates into a continuing challenge for the designers, engineers and other specialists at Motorola who have to solve the problem of providing more options, more function and less size.	August 27
Solar Power: PhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaic cells convert energy from the sun directly into electricity. In this movie, engineers Beth Richards and Miguel Contreras give your students a clear and engaging "101" on this renewable energy technology, and demonstrate the basic math and science behind it.	September 9
Dancing to the Limit Professional dancers, and the health professionals that keep them on their toes, use principles of geometry and engineering to achieve their goals. Find out how this art form is going high tech! Additional resources: Tango and the Geometry of the Dance http://tangomagdalena.com/tango_geometry_dance.html · Dance Geometry: http://www.openendedgroup.com/index.php/publications/conversations/forsythe/ Want a bonus point? Use 2 websites on your paper and have one of them be a new website that isn't listed here!	September 11
Building and Testing Wheels On location at Easton Sports for an inside look at what it takes to build and test durable, high-performance bike wheels.	September 30
Creating Cars Here is a career that might really rev your engines by going inside Ford's Advanced Design Studio with two designers and an engineer. Behind the scenes, car design is all about science, technology, engineering and math! Need another resource: Performance engineer — Rolls Royce	October 2
Maglev Trains Gliding on a wave of electromagnetic force, a maglev train could travel at 300 miles per hour or faster. Designer-engineers describe the mechanics and future benefits of such superconductor trains.	October12
The New York City Subway The New York City subway moves millions of people every day, thanks to the skills of a team of remarkable people.	October 19
HOW TO CANCEL NOISE In 1978, Dr. Amar Bose was frustrated by the inability to hear good music in a noisy airplane cabin. Then he got curious and wondered if there was a way to separate what one wanted to hear from what one didn’t.	October 26
The Skateboard Designer The pioneering designer and Head of Research and Development with Santa Cruz Skateboards takes students behind the scenes to show them how he uses math and science to design a strong skateboard that will last a "ridiculously long time."	November 2
HALLOWEEN Treat - an extra movie this week! BATS! For some people, bats are one of the scariest groups of creatures out there. Not for Bert Grantges. He knows that without bats we'd be overrun by bugs, and that would be scarier. He uses basic math like estimation, percents and ratios to track bat populations.	November 2
The Wind Business Watch the Movie According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the total wind power capacity installed in the United States was 2,472 megawatts in 1999. Only 15 states were producing electricity from the wind. Today the total installed capacity is over 28,000 megawatts, with installations in 35 states. 2,000 megawatts can power roughly 1 million homes. Wind power has certainly become an icon of clean, renewable energy, but behind the scenes it's all about math, science and careers. Check out what a wind analyst, an engineer and a construction manager do and see what it takes to turn one of our most abundant natural resources into a viable business.	Nov 9
Designing Backpacks Watch the movie An essential part of any student’s gear is a good backpack. But have your students ever stopped to think about who designs them and how? Introduce them to Columbia Sportswear Designer Chris Araujio. Whether he's measuring the straps for comfort, calculating the backpack's volume, or designing the shape of the front pouch, math is critical to a good design.	Nov 16
Recycling: Winning the War on Waste Watch the movie Each person in the U.S. generates about 25 pounds of garbage a week. That might not seem like much, but it means the nation's population produces nearly two hundred million tons of residential garbage every single year. Fortunately, up to 80% of that can actually be recycled. Go behind the scenes with a Strategic Planner for the City of Seattle to see how they are tackling the problem.	Nov 23
Science & SunglassesWatch the Movie The Zeiss Company was founded in Germany over a hundred and fifty years ago when Carl Zeiss began producing some of the first microscopes designed around solid optical theory and physics rather than trial and error. To this day, Zeiss remains one of the most respected names in optics. The company has helped define the state-of-the-art in binoculars, camera lenses, medical imaging, and even the optical instruments that power planetariums. Go inside a Zeiss facility in Northern Italy for a rare look at the science and technology behind designing, testing and manufacturing lenses for high-end sports performance sunglasses.	Nov 30
Aquarium Makers Watch the movie You had better be sure your math is right if you're going to put 5,000 gallons of water, fish, coral and sand inside a house or office! Introduce your students to Nic Tiemens and Joe Pineda. They love the challenge of recreating a slice of the ocean indoors. Day in and day out, they use volume calculations, temperature, measurement and lots of science to create these beautiful habitats. Be sure to check out the downloadable classroom activity titled Aquariums Under Pressure, located just below the main movie.	Dec. 7
	Dec, 14

Predicting the Weather From tornados to hurricanes and thunderstorms to climate change, these nine scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are using math and science to better understand and predict severe weather systems.
Making Sparks Solar panels are a practical source of electricity for an individual or a nation.
Bicycle Design Making bicycles that are strong enough for stunts requires the right combination of triangles and circles.
Designing Toy Cars As a professional toy car designer for Mattel's Hot Wheels, Larry Wood uses basic math concepts such as fractions, measurement and scale to create accurate replicas of the coolest cars on the road.
Landscape Architects When most people think of architects, they think of buildings, but what about the parks, plazas and gardens that adorn our cities? Meet two landscape architects who tell the story of competing against top firms in the world to win the opportunity to design a one-of-a kind botanical garden for the city of Chicago: the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park.
ABC's of Architecture When Penn Station needed a new front entrance, they called upon architect Frances Halsband, and she called upon her knowledge of geometry. Need more info for your paper? Read an interview of an Architect	Wednesday, October 22
	Wednesday, 10/29/08
Building Custom Guitars Go inside the workshop of Alembic, one of the most influential bass and guitar makers in the business, to see how they rely on precision numbers to craft guitars with the best quality sound and customized fit for each musician.	Wednesday, November 5
Creating Cars Your students like to ride in them, plan to drive one and hope to own one, but do they know they could also have a job designing cars? Inspire them by taking them inside Ford Motor Company to see how designers and engineers use math to steer the direction of their concept cars. Performance engineer — Rolls Royce	Wednesday, November 12
Wind Farming Soaring 260 feet in the air with a wingspan the length of a football field, it is possible for a single wind turbine to produce enough energy to power 750 homes. Introduce your students to three engineers who use everything from algebra to physics and problem solving to statistics to provide us with a clean, renewable energy source. The movie features a visit to the largest wind farm in New York, Maple Ridge Wind Farm, a joint venture between Horizon Wind Energy and PPM Energy.	Wednesday, November 19
Recycling Computers Every year over 250 million computers and 100 million cell phones are tossed aside in the US alone. Go inside Electronic Recyclers, the largest “e-waste” facility in California, to see how they break down millions of pounds of electronics every month. Everything from computers to cell phones, TVs to Xboxes, comes through their doors to be crushed, shredded, melted down and reused.	Wednesday, November 26
The Skateboard Designer The pioneering designer and Head of Research and Development with Santa Cruz Skateboards takes students behind the scenes to show them how he uses math and science to design a strong skateboard that will last a "ridiculously long time."	Wednesday, December 3
The Orion Space Capsule NASA Aerospace and Industrial Engineer Robert Howard takes viewers inside the Habitability Design Center at Johnson Space Center for a look at the Orion space capsule--and the math, and engineering skills his fascinating career demands.	Wednesday, December 10


Designing Backpacks Columbia Sportswear Designer Chris Araujo combines innovation with design to create backpacks for one of the largest outdoor apparel companies in the world. Whether he's measuring the straps for comfort or designing the shape of the front pouch, math is essential to his designs.	September 26
Bicycle Design Making bicycles that are strong enough for stunts requires the right combination of triangles and circles.	October 3
Dancing to the Limit Professional dancers, and the health professionals that keep them on their toes, use principles of geometry and engineering to achieve their goals.	October 10
End of First Quarter
	October 17
Bats For some people, bats are one of the scariest groups of creatures out there. Not for Bert Grantges. He knows that without bats we'd be overrun by bugs, and that would be scarier. He uses basic math like estimation, percents and ratios to track bat populations.	October 31
Predicting the Weather From tornados to hurricanes and thunderstorms to climate change, these nine scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are using math and science to better understand and predict severe weather systems.	October 31
Maglev Trains Gliding on a wave of electromagnetic force, a maglev train could travel at 300 miles per hour or faster. Designer-engineers describe the mechanics and future benefits of such superconductor trains.

100,000 Computers a Day A rare and fascinating look inside the world's largest computer manufacturer, Dell Inc., where thousands of computers are custom-built and shipped around the world every day. From the call center to the inventory system to the assembly line and beyond, one thing is certain: The whole operation relies on a variety of math skills every step of the way.	November 14	November 21
	November 21	November 28
	November 28	December 5
Undersea Treasure A probability map, constructed by a mathematician, locates a sunken U.S. ship with the largest sunken gold treasure in U.S. history, and reveals even greater wonders.	December 5	December 12
Spaceports Whether you’re talking about privately owned and operated rockets to ferry cargo to low earth orbit, or the customers already in line for the opportunity to weightlessly gaze upon Earth from outer space, the “personal space flight revolution” will bring a new element of infrastructure to our communities: Spaceports. Building and operating these new launch facilities will require science, technology, engineering, math, imagination and problem solving skills. Will Spaceports be to students today what airports were to their great grandparents? Show your students this "101" on spaceports and find out what they think.	December 12	December 19
End of Second Quarter
Aquarium Makers Specializing in saltwater aquariums, Nic Tiemens and Joe Pineda love the challenge of recreating a slice of the ocean indoors. Day in and day out, they use volume calculations, temperature, measurement and science to create these beautiful habitats.		January 14
Water Supply The water that comes out of your tap has traveled a long way to get there.		January 21
The Art Director A set is a created place where the action of a film or TV show happens. Actors, animals and objects are placed on a set for filming. Creating a set where everything fits just right calls for an understanding of "area".		January 28
Landscape Architects When most people think of architects, they think of buildings, but what about the parks, plazas and gardens that adorn our cities? Meet two landscape architects who tell the story of competing against top firms in the world to win the opportunity to design a one-of-a kind botanical garden for the city of Chicago: the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park.
Space Architecture Space stations, moon bases, a Martian greenhouse? Building places to live and work in extreme environments takes architects that understand how to play by a different set of rules. Take your students to NASA's Johnson Space Center and the University of Houston, to meet architects that are tackling the challenges. Architecture in outer space is all about problem solving!
Models for Movies How do movies and TV shows make their special effects look so real? Well, sometimes they are real--but just in a different scale. Greg Jein explains how his job plays a big part in that movie magic--and how measurement plays a big part in his job.
Structural Engineering To design buildings that don't fall down, you need to know how your materials will respond to forces such as gravity, wind, and earthquakes.
Testing Baseball Bats From the cannon room to the bat-swinging robot to the bat handle-breaking machine, the engineers at Easton Sports are testing the latest sports equipment for durability, performance and handling.

Landscape Architects When most people think of architects, they think of buildings, but what about the parks, plazas and gardens that adorn our cities? Meet two landscape architects who tell the story of competing against top firms in the world to win the opportunity to design a one-of-a kind botanical garden for the city of Chicago: the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park.	Wed., Feb. 4
Space Architecture Space stations, moon bases, a Martian greenhouse? Building places to live and work in extreme environments takes architects that understand how to play by a different set of rules. Take your students to NASA's Johnson Space Center and the University of Houston, to meet architects that are tackling the challenges. Architecture in outer space is all about problem solving!	Wed., Feb 11	February 20
Models for Movies How do movies and TV shows make their special effects look so real? Well, sometimes they are real--but just in a different scale. Greg Jein explains how his job plays a big part in that movie magic--and how measurement plays a big part in his job.	Wed., Feb. 18	February 27
Structural Engineering To design buildings that don't fall down, you need to know how your materials will respond to forces such as gravity, wind, and earthquakes.	Wed., Feb 25	March 5
Testing Baseball Bats From the cannon room to the bat-swinging robot to the bat handle-breaking machine, the engineers at Easton Sports are testing the latest sports equipment for durability, performance and handling.	Wed., March 4	March 12
End of Third Quarter
Reliable Robots When it comes to designing robots for space, making sure that they can complete their missions is the name of the game for NASA’s robotics engineers. That requires math, especially probability.	April 2	April 9
The Starshade Is there life on planets in other star systems? It's a very old question. But finding the answer may get simpler with a new invention by astrophysicist, professor and inventor Webster Cash.	April 9	April 16

Choose One or both - it's a bonus week! The Head Chef The head chef is responsible for everything that happens in the kitchen--and for everything that comes out of it.
Forrester For Tami Sabol, the forest is her office. As a Forester for Plum Creek Timber Company, she is responsible for the health of hundreds of thousands of acres of trees. Using math and science is a routine part of her work.

Last movie for this grading period! Flights of Imagination With human-powered flight, solar-powered flight, solar-powered stratospheric flight, the fastest solar powered car at the first World Solar Challenge race, the electric car prototype that became GM's EV1, and numerous other feats of engineering and innovation to his credit, visionary Paul MacCready (September 25, 1925 – August 28, 2007) was one of the truly great engineers of the 20th Century.Flights of Imagination takes you inside Paul MacCready’s company, AeroVironment, circa 1990, to meet the man and hear firsthand about some of his remarkable work.
Reliable Robots When it comes to designing robots for space, making sure that they can complete their missions is the name of the game for NASA’s robotics engineers. That requires math, especially probability.	Wed., March 18
The Starshade Is there life on planets in other s tar systems? It's a very old question. But finding the answer may get simpler with a new invention by astrophysicist, professor and inventor Webster Cash.	Wed., April 1
Water Tanks There are few cities in the U.S. with the number of tall buildings that New York City has, and also few cities with a water system as old. As a matter of fire prevention, taller buildings are required to have two sources of water, and one of those is usually a tank on the roof.	Wed., April 8
The Wind Business The Wind Business It can take years to plan and engineer these state-of-the-art wind farms. It’s a problem-solving process that draws on an understanding of algebra, geometry, kinetic energy, electronics and just about everything in between in order to turn one of our most abundant natural resources into a viable business.	Wed., April 15
Powering the Planet To consider the space solar power concept requires an understanding of science, technology, engineering, math, energy, policy, environmental factors, and more. Space solar power is an engineering project on a scale that rivals the greatest in history. Students need to be informed and able to participate in the conversation. (Watch the Movie Close-up for your second source for this movie!)	Wed., April 22
Undersea Treasure Suppose you want to search for the largest sunken gold treasure in U.S. History. Who would you want on your team? Tom Thompson wanted a mathematician who specialized in probability.	Wed., April 29
Roller Coasters Designing thrilling, but safe, roller coasters requires a healthy respect for the laws of physics combined with a visionary's attitude that "the sky is the limit."	Wed., May 6