Lesson pack
First derivatives pack
A first derivatives lesson is a tangent you can drag, a secant that becomes it, and the algebra that writes the line. These three widgets cover that unit on one page.
Copy each snippet onto one class page. The front door is widgets. Host steps: Google Sites. Classroom notes: teachers.
Tangent line tracer
Drag a point along f(x), watch the tangent rotate, and see f'(x) draw itself dot by dot. An interactive that shows what a derivative actually is.
Secant to tangent
Drag h to zero and watch a secant line pivot into the tangent. See how the difference quotient becomes f'(a), the limit definition of the derivative.
Tangent line calculator
Find the tangent and normal line to any curve: compute f'(x), evaluate the slope at your point, and build both equations with point-slope form. AP Topic 2.2.