Link: https: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/pjosch6s7f
Going into this project I knew that it would be a challenge as graphing doesn’t come to easily for me, however I was still excited to complete my Christmas card. When coming up with a design plan I tried to think of what came to mind when I think of the holidays. I immediately thought of green and red which I tried to incorporate throughout my card. I also thought of a Christmas tree and Santa hat which I incorporated into my card as well. When approaching how to visually interpret my holiday card idea I really wanted to challenge myself and use various different types of equations with translation, stretches, reflections, and domain and range restrictions throughout. This was my mentality through the entire creative process of my card, the notion of using different and unexpected functions to build my holiday themed card. This challenge that I set out for myself really added to the uniqueness of my Holiday card as I tried not to create images with the simplest equations.
As I mentioned before, graphs are not my specialty, therefore I encountered many challenges/roadblocks. I had to look back on my notes from previous units as a recap of the types of equations and how to graph them. Additionally in some cases when I was stuck and didn’t know how to execute a visual aspect, I used google and YouTube for support and guidance. In some cases I also reached out to fellow classmates for some assistance and guidance. All of these were great ways of dealing with these obstacles and aided me in surpassing them.
Ultimately, this project was very time consuming but I am very happy and proud with my end result. I am also very happy with the amount I learned during this process. This Holiday card project really proved to be a great review and expansion of knowledge for me as I got to understand much better how to graph many different types of equations. I also was able to really comprehend domain and range restrictions as well as how transformations affect graphing. All of this understanding will really help me on the final. It was also very eye-opening as I was able to comprehend even better how math is used in a different setting than just in the class, in the real world. This project allowed enjoy all the ups and downs from challenges to the aha moments where I finally understood some concepts or was able to fully execute my creative ideas. It may have been quite difficult, but I learned a lot and am glad I chose to complete this optional project as I am confident that the knowledge I obtained will prove to be beneficial in the future in and outside of my Pre-Calculus 12 course.