GeoGebra Extra: The Construction Protocol

When a geometric drawing or construction is done in GeoGebra, the steps are recorded in the Construction Protocol. The Construction Protocol contains the steps of how geometric constructions are made.  This way, other users of the GGB file would be able to examine the steps and repeat the construction.

Another use for the Construction Protocol is when checking if a particular construction made used the required steps or if they are mathematically correct. For instance, students may construct equilateral triangles using the Regular polygon tool instead of the using two circles (see figure above) to mimic compass and straightedge construction.

The Construction Protocol can be displayed by using the View menu. The arrows can be used to display graphically how a construction is made.  While using the arrow, the construction is reconstructed and the corresponding steps are highlighted.

OpenOffice Calc Tutorial 1: The Calc Environment

This is the first post in the OpenOffice Calc Tutorial Series. In this post, we familiarize ourselves with the Calc interface.

The Calc environment is very similar to that of Microsoft Excel’s. It is made up of columns and rows. Each column is name by a letter (see column header) and each row is named with a number (see row header). Column  D and row 5 are highlighted below.

A cell is an intersection of a column and a row and is named using a cell address. D5 is the cell address of the cell in column D and row 5. The cell where data will appear when you typed is the active cell denoted by a rectangular box called the cell pointer. The name box contains the address of the active cell.

The formula bar is used for entering and editing data and formulas. The menu bar and toolbar are also present just like in most application environment. The sheet tabs contains the different sheets or pages.

Before we begin our tutorial in the next post, try to familiarize yourself with the environment of Calc and its part.  We will use terms mentioned above often, so it is important that you are familiar with them.

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