Hi, my name is Marty Schmude and I have some good news for you - TiGM homework! I'll bet you never thought you would get homework when you enrolled into TiGM, especially the first day back. Well, you are a part of something special now and have started your journey down the road of teaching mathematics with technology.

Until we meet again, you will receive homework every 2 weeks. It will be a simple graphics calculator activity that should take you no more than 10 minutes. The main aim of it is for you to become more familiar with your calculator. So grab your coffee and let's get stuck into the first lesson.

Lesson 1
You may not have known this when you arrived at your TiGM session but when you walked in, a machine measured your height and belly button height! We are going to analyse some of this data and show you something interesting. But before we start banging buttons, have a look at the main keys that we are going to use this lesson (lower right).

Part 1 - Entering data into lists
Grab your calculator and turn it on. Enter STAT mode by using the arrows on your keypad and press EXE (figure 1). Now enter the heights in List 1 and the belly button heights in list 2 (figure 2) by pressing the numbers followed by the EXE button.

Part 2 - Making a new list with the data
Now we are going to see what happens when we divide each person's height by their belly button height. Place your cursor on the word 'List 3' (figure 3). This is CRUCIAL if you are going to do any manipulation of lists.

We are now going to enter the line 'List 1 divided by List 2' (figure 6). Press the OPTN button located next to the yellow SHIFT key. You will now see a LIST option on the screen above F1 (figure 4). Press List (F1) to open this menu. Again you will see a List option above F1 (figure 5). It is time to write the line. Press List (F1) followed by a 1, then a division, another List (F1) and the number 2. It should look exactly like figure 6. That's it ... press EXE.

You will see List 3 fill with the calculations. Take this opportunity to look at the numbers and see what you notice.

Part 3 - Analysing the data in a list
We are going to find the median and mean of the scores in List 3, to find what a typical score is. Press your grey MENU key, which will take you to the main menu. We are now going to enter the RUN mode.We need to find the mean and median commands. Our inputs will look like figure 10.

Press OPTN and then List (F1), just like we did in Part 2. You will see quite a few options, including 'des (F6). Press 'des until you see Mean and Med. We will find the mean first. Press Mean (F3) and you will see it appear on the screen with an open bracket (figure 8). Now press 'des (F6) again to see the List command (F1). Enter the LIST 3 part and close the brackets. Press EXE to find the answer. It should look like figure 9.

Do the same things to find the median. All you need to do is press 'des (F6) to find the commands you need. Compare your results to the ones in figure 10.

You have just discovered an approximation for the Golden Ratio. Here are some websites to look at if you want.

• BBC (light read)
• University of Georgia (everything you would want to know)

Congratulations - you have just completed your first lot of homework. Of course please feel free to email me if you are unsure of any parts. Until next time ...