Assignment 3: Mini-Project

Choose Your Own Assignment

For this project, we want you to flex your LaTeX muscles and at the same time use it for a more creative purpose. Your goal is to create a whole document from scratch, using the techniques you have learned since the start of the course. We'll want you to satisfy the breadth requirement: you must use at least 7 of the following 12 concepts introduced in week 3. They have nicknames to help us refer to them later.

• 3-0, newcommand: define a new command (should be visible, \comment{} does not count)
• 3-1, spacing: change the layout or use explicit spacing commands
• 3-1, format: change the documentclass options or line spacing
• 3-2, multimath: use multi-line equations (e.g., align or cases)
• 3-2, fancymath: use math accents or over/under-shapes
• 3-2, minipage: use (boxed)minipage
• 3-3, amsthm: use theorem-like environments
• 3-3, labelref: use labeling and referencing
• 3-4, bibcite: use a bibliography and citations
• 3-5, drawing: use IPE or Inkscape to create a picture with embedded LaTeX; then include it
• 3-5, pstricks: make a pstricks picture (not created with GeoGebra)
• 3-5, pgfplots: make a pgfplots chart

The type of LaTeX document (e.g. quiz, assignment, classroom handout, course notes) as well as the content (e.g. algebraic manipulation, quadratic equations, discussion of gas prices) is left entirely open and up to you. You could create a resource that you would be able to use in your own classroom, or write a document on a topic of personal interest. Be creative and don't be afraid to think outside of the box.

Here are a couple ideas if you need a hand getting started:

• Create a set of questions with solutions
• Prepare a lesson proving a mathematical property such as the Pythagorean Theorem or the Sine Law.
• Write a summary of another mathematical document.

Independent Work / Citation Policy

To help you plan ahead: in Week 6 you'll be doing another mini-project, creating a purposeful document of your choosing, in LaTeX but integrating work from either Maple or GeoGebra. You should not re-use material from this project in that one (although they can be on the same topic, if they're both created from scratch). Here is a more general policy on what we expect: cite all inspirations, figures, text, or code fragments taken from outside sources. For web resources, list at minimum the URL and a brief description of the page. (Remember that \url{} may be useful.) 

Put your citations somewhere in the document. (It should appear in the .pdf, not just the .tex source as comments.) If you didn't use outside sources, say so somewhere in the .pdf document. You can use a formal bibliography if you like, but you don't have to.

Explanatory Appendix

To help with grading, you have to add an appendix listing the nicknames of the breadth requirements you satisfied, and how you satisfied them. 

If you like, you can put your citations in this appendix, but you can also put them somewhere else if you prefer.

As usual, submit both the final main .pdf, and also all files used to create it. This includes the .tex file, and might include .bib, or .pdf_tex files, as well as any .pdf images that you created with IPE.