Finding a Chain Rule

Highlights of the activity

1. This small group activity is designed to give students practice in finding a chain rule for an indirectly calculable / measurable partial derivative.
2. Students work in small groups to find a chain rule for the desired partial derivative.
3. The whole class wrap-up discussion emphasizes strategies that help to organize the solving process.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

After lecturing students on the topics of using differential substitution and chain rule diagrams, it is imperative that you provide students a chance to implement these methods.

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version