“Bring your Christmas cheer because the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus is a gift!”
Calculus Christmas is a tradition for Mr. Wondergem and his students. You might be wondering, “Why are they celebrating Christmas in October?”
Calculus is the mathematical study of change, as we analyze as a number approaches a certain function, a rate of change in a certain instant, the average area underneath a curve, and more. Right now, students are learning about “Integrals,” one of the major pillars of Calculus.
Calculus Christmas is all about learning The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. As you can assume, this is a very principal and salient theorem that reinstates the meaning of an integral. It associates the third pillar with the second pillar- derivatives and integrals. When asked for a brief overview of Calculus Christmas, Mr. Wondergem described it as “a chance for us to learn the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, which makes a lot of the math we do easier, and it is an opportunity for us to celebrate.”
This Wednesday the 25th, the Calculus BC class celebrated this event with a multitude of decorations and food, as seen in the pictures. Students stayed on Tuesday after school and came early on Wednesday in the spirit of Calculus Christmas to decorate and to preserve the tradition.
The students in Calculus enjoyed this event and thought that it was a fun way to represent an important theorem. As a senior in high school taking the class, Henry Hance describes the event as “super exciting, and a very fun way to connect as a class.” He appreciates how increased the enjoyment of the content, but at the same time how it was an incredible mathematical innovation.
Calculus Christmas has been a tradition for a long period of time, as Mr. Mauldin, the previous Calculus teacher, started it, and Mr. Wdonergem has been keeping it up ever since. Calculus Christmas will likely continue for the future years, so if you are in Algebra 2 or Precalculus- plan to take Calculus! Be excited to learn the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus!
