Other TI-83/84 Calculator Features

            For the past week we have been working more with the TI-84 and its functionalities specifically with the MATH menu and matrices.  I learned of many of the calculator’s capabilities such as finding the least common multiple of two numbers, how to find the reduced row echelon form for a matrix, and how to simulate a coin flip 50 times.  Of course, you could physically flip a coin 50 times or find the least common multiple by hand, but technology such as the TI-84 has the benefits of speed and scale.  If we wanted to flip a coin 500 times, it would eat of more time than it’s worth, but with the TI-84 calculator you can simulate 500 coin flips in a matter of seconds.  This allows time for students to actually apply the data to a math lesson instead of spending all class collecting a large enough sample.  These calculator functions could easily be used in probability lessons or algebra II classes.  I could see the coin flip/probability function of the calculator being used to demonstrate experimental probability and what happens to it, relative to the theoretical probability, as more trials are conducted.  A lesson like this would be most appropriate for 7^th grade students.  RREF could be used for a lesson on solving multi-variable equations.  This would be especially useful if students already know how to solve these equations and just need RREF to speed up the process.  Lessons including RREF would be most appropriate in an Algebra II classroom.