Teaching Math with the KDE Interactive Geometry Program

"Thankfully I read the documentation that came with Kig, otherwise, I would have missed out on some of its more powerful features. For example, if you select a curve, say a parabola, from your diagram, you can use the point tool to create a point on that curve. Later, you can drag that point around with the mouse, and it won't leave the curve to which it was constrained. Then, you can use that point to construct other curves, such as a tangent to the curve.

"Without reading the documentation, I would have completely overlooked the Add Text Label function that is available by right-clicking on a curve. This function doesn't merely add text to your diagram; there's a text tool for that. The Add Text Label function lets you display information about a curve, such as slope, equation, focus and so on. Once the label has been added to the diagram, you can change various parts of the curve, and the label will reflect those changes.

"For example, if you created a parabola through three points, you can add a label that displays the equation of that curve. You also can create a label that displays the coordinates of the points. Then, you can move the points around with your mouse, and see the labels change."

Complete Story

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