Tutorial on Java Sketchpad

  1. Make a sketch modeled after the one in the Japanese geometry lesson in the TIMSS video. It shows that triangles with the same base and height have the same area.
    1. Download the Java Sketchpad package from the Java Sketchpad Center
    2. Start up Geometer's Sketchpad with an "untitled" window.
    3. Construct a segment AB with the line tool.
    4. Construct a point C not on AB with the point tool.
    5. With the selection tool, select AB and C with the shift key pressed down. Choose Parallel on the Construction menu.
    6. Select the point C, and choose Hide Point on the Display menu.
    7. Construct a new point E on the parallel line.
    8. Construct segments AE and BE.
    9. Select A, B, and E with shift down. Choose Polygon Interior on the Construct menu.
    10. With the triangle interior selected, choose Area from the Measure menu.
    11. Save your sketch with the name triangle.
  2. Convert your sketch to HTML.
    1. Start up GSP HTML Converter.
    2. Open the file triangle.
    3. Adjust the size of the window as you want
    4. Adjust the size of the window as you want it on your web page.
    5. Save as HTML in the same place as the JSP folder that came with the Java Sketchpad package. This will produce a file triangle.html.
  3. Check your HTML page.
    1. Start up a web browser.
    2. Choose Open File, then open triangle.html.
    3. If it isn't quite right, edit it with a text editing program.
  4. Edit your HTML page.
    1. Start up a text editing program.
    2. Open the file triangle.html. The part of the file between <APPLET> and </APPLET> is your sketch; don't mess with this part until you're more experienced. Put any text you want before and/or after the applet. A big heading is surrounded by <H1> and </H1> For a paragraph break, put <P>.
    3. Save your file.