I am a Finnish teacher for mathematics, physics and chemistry. I have more than 30 years of experience in teaching. Nowadays I am retired.
I have developed a device for drawing and teaching the parabola and hyperbola which I have used successfully in my teaching. With my device it is easy and quick to teach in a concrete way the idea of the parabola and hyperbola. It takes about 30 minutes to teach the idea to pupils under 15 years old. To a little bit older pupils (about 17 years old) one can use the device to teach the equations of the parabola (y=ax2 and y=ax2+bx+c) and hyperbola (x2/a2-y2/b2=1) in about 40 minutes.
The device can be connected with a small or a large pair of compasses. From these pages you can get the drawings of both devices.
Parabola The distance to the directrix and the focus are equal. |
Hyperbola The distances to the foci from any point have a constant absolute value. (|a - b| = |a' - b'| = constant) |
Ellipse The distances to the foci have a constant sum. (a+b=a'+b'= constant) |
Circle The distance to the centre a is constant. |
If you are interested in supporting my invention and research, you can give donation(voluntary). The bank account can be found below.
OKOBANK HELSINKI;FINLAND IBAN:FI9157230220166354 SWIFT:OKOYFIHHOld pictures.
Kind regards Jorma Holopainen Oikokatu 11 D 32 FI - 00170 HELSINKI FINLAND Tel. +358 9 1355709 Mobile +358 50 3744973 e-mail: holis@luukku.com