Resources for the Connect
the Dots Setting
You should start your investigations by creating some circle diagrams by hand. Click here to download a set of handouts with 2-dot to 16-dot circles. Print as many copies of these handouts as you need. You can also create your own circles by using a compass or tracing around a round object. You can make 16 evenly spaced dots by first drawing dots at the top and bottom and then repeatedly halving the arcs, yielding first 4, then 8, then finally 16 dots. If you draw your segments using a ruler or straightedge, your hand-drawn diagrams will be clearer and, therefore, more useful to you.
After you have spent some time exploring this problem by hand, you may want to speed up your work by using a computer or calculator. You can create circle diagrams with many dots at www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/applet/0,,NAV2-21_SAP245,00.html (you will need a browser that supports Java to use this site).
If you have a Texas Instruments TI-73, TI-83, or TI-92 calculator, you can click here for a copy of the Connect the Dots program. See the guidebook that came with your calculator for information on how to type these programs into your calculator.
If you have the TI-Graph Link software and cable for transferring files between a computer and calculator, you can use one of the files below:
TI-73
TI-83
TI-92
The programs will pause after drawing the diagram. You need to press the ENTER button to continue on to the list of which dots were hit.
If you are working on proofs of your conjectures, you may find it helpful
to know about modular
arithmetic.
