Points & Lines menu item does not show up in Graph mode unless....

[Randy Michaels]

I'm going through a tutorial that shows how to enter 2 points in a
graph then calculate the slope. In the tutorial, when the Menu button
is pressed, there are menu items like, Point, Line, etc. that do not
show up when I press Menu.
However, if I create a Geometry page and THEN go into Graph mode, the
Point, Line, etc. show up and I can plot points on my graph.

This can't be right, can it? Is there a more straight forward way to
plot points and lines on a graph?

Note that the Nspire used in the tutorial is the Blue/Gray one and
mine is the Black model.

Thanks for your attention. :]

[Sean Bird]

It sounds like you were using the Scratchpad Graph. This enables you to do a quick graph. It doesn't have all the geometry capabilities that you would get if you opened a new document and chose Graphs. Then you will find menu> Point&Lines.

Again Scratchpad Graph on gives about the first 6 menu options.

[Randy Michaels]

Ah, I see now. If I select the Graph icon (which creates a document)
then the menu items are all there.

Thanks Sean. I notice you're pretty active on this group, I really
appreciate the help. I've gone back to school after 35 years to
complete my degree in Physics and thought I would get a really good
calculator. I'm doing just fine with the math and physics but learning
to use the Nspire is way more challenging. I'm beginning to wish I'd
purchased the TI-89. :)

[Travis Bower]

Randy,

Hang in there.  It's just the learning curve.  You will soon relish the Nspire.

See ti site under physics  http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/sectionHome/gs_main_physics.html

I hope you have the computer software--it is the way to go when you don't need the portability of the hh.

After seeing the menu displays several times, you will feel comfortable with the familiar.  At first (coming from the ti84) I thought there were too many 'clicks', but now I hardly notice and the menu cascade/cline is a bonus for students to see.

travis

ps (sean is your physics guy...google him and his sites)

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[Sean Bird]

Randy,
Good choice on getting the black TI-Nspire CAS.
I had used the 89 in my classroom for many years until the Nspire CAS came out. With 'mathprint' on the input - you can enter mathematical expressions they way you want rather than learning syntax - my students make few mistakes. Also there are many things that users who are familiar with computers enjoy with the Nspire that were not available with the 84/89: saving documents, ctrl z for undo, etc.

There will still be some syntax to learn. Probably the most useful for checking your work will be solve( equation, variable). For example,  solve(3x^2-2x-10=0,x)

The other thing you will enjoy exploring is units. That is another nice way to check your calculation. Units are under the book (this button is actually called 'catalog' and is found at the top of the column of buttons on the far right). Press 3 to get the that tab. Expand a selection by arrowing to the right, condense it by arrowing to the left. To quickly move up and down press ctrl 7,1,9,3 for home, end, pgUp, pgDn.
Also the underscore is found under ctrl space. Use this so you don't have to go into the catalog.

And as Travis mentioned, if you got a new TI-Nspire CAS Touchpad it did come with the software. I've written more about the software in a little series I need to continue on my blog. http://bird-godlydominion.blogspot.com/search?q=why+I+nspire

I have a Primer on my Nspire site that I have my calc students do over the summer. 
http://covenantchristian.org/bird/TTT/TI-NspireCASprimer.pdf

- Sean Bird
Covenant Christian High School
Indianapolis, IN
http://covenantchristian.org/bird/Nspire.html

On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 1:37 PM, Randy Michaels <sac...@gmail.com> wrote:
Ah, I see now. If I select the Graph icon (which creates a document)
then the menu items are all there.

Thanks Sean. I notice you're pretty active on this group, I really
appreciate the help. I've gone back to school after 35 years to
complete my degree in Physics and thought I would get a really good
calculator. I'm doing just fine with the math and physics but learning
to use the Nspire is way more challenging. I'm beginning to wish I'd
purchased the TI-89.  :)

On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 1:18 PM, Sean Bird <covena...@gmail.com> wrote:

It sounds like you were using the Scratchpad Graph. This enables you to do a quick graph. It doesn't have all the geometry capabilities that you would get if you opened a new document and chose Graphs. Then you will find menu> Point&Lines.

Again Scratchpad Graph only gives about the first 6 menu options.

[Randy Michaels]

Sean and Travis,

Thanks for the tips. I do have the software and was surprised
yesterday when I discovered I could write a program on my PC and move
it to the hh. This is a pretty amazing device.

I can see it will be worth the effort to come up to speed on the
Nspire ASAP so I'm running through as many tutorials as possible.

[Travis Bower]

Someone just posted this one and I jumped to the last exercise to test my skills.

My 21"[fit two open docs side by side]  monitor and clean crisp pdf's make it easy and fun.

http://education.ti.com/sites/UK/downloads/pdf/First_Steps_with_TI-Nspire_web.pdf

Make a folder to keep 'em all together--advice to myself.