dotshot.uue - DOTSHOT is similar to Green Globs.  The user tries to draw lines, via equations

in slope-intercept form, thru points on a coordinate plane.



DOTSHOT is like Green Globs but for the 82.  The user must write equations in 

slope-intercept form (y=mx+b) to pass through points plotted on a coordinate 

grid.  I got the initial program idea from a program written by a teacher in 

Canton, Ohio for the TI

-81.  I apologize for not having the original authors name.  The only code I 

"stole" from him was the random order pair generator.



The program begins asking for the user to select New or Old points.  If the 

program is being executed for the first time select New Points.  If the program 

is interrupted AND the lists have not been altered then select Old Points.

If New Points was selected the user is prompted to select the number of points 

to be plotted on the grid.  A good number would be about 15.  The points will 

be randomly generated and plotted on the screen.  Some points may overlap each 

other somewhat.  Ea

ch point is has a "diameter" of about 0.4 .



At this point the user must select point(s) to draw a line through and should 

write the ordered pair(s) on a sheet of paper.  An equation needs to be 

calculated in slope-intercept form (y=mx+b) .  Press ENTER.  The screen goes 

into split screen mode and p

rompts the user to input the equation and put quotation marks around it.  

NOTE!! The whole equation y=mx+b should not be entered,  only "mx+b" !  

Additionally, only the leading quote needs to be included.  The ending quote is 

not necessary.

For example, if the equation y = 1/2 x - 2/3 is the equation to be entered, the 

user should type in:

"(1/2)x-(2/3)    <ENTER>



The line will be graphed and a determination will be made if point(s) are hit.

If hit the point(s) will be erased and a score will be displayed along with the 

number of points hit by a single line.



The user must again pick a point(s) to draw a line through and press ENTER.  

The process is repeated until all points are "hit".  Once all points arer hit a 

screen appears informing the user that all points have been hit, the total 

score, the total number

 of dots attempted, and the number of lines used.



Scoring is determined by 2^n - 1, where "n" is the number of dots hit.  

Therefore, to achieve a high score, attempt to hit as many dots as possible 

with a single line.



A few notes:

The program will accept something besides a linear equation in slope-intercept 

form but detection may not be guaranteed.  I could not figure out how to detect 

if a point was hit using a generic formula.  Therefore, I defaulted to the 

linear equation.  The

 basic idea goes as follows:

(1) convert the slope-intercept form into Standard form.

(2) use the formula to find the distance from the point to a line.

(3) if the distance is <= 0.2 then declare the point "hit"





The program was edit protected only to prevent students from editing the 

program.  I don't care if you modify the program.  All I ask is that if you use 

the program, or parts of it, elsewhere, please give credit where credit is due.



I've used this in my classroom and the students seem to enjoy playing with it.

If you decide to use this in the classroom and you want to first show the 

students how to use the program, have the students enter a common value into 

RAND, so that everybody gets the same ordered pairs.  For example, have all 

students perform the operati

on 1->rand prior to running the program.  This way they can follow along with 

their calculators while you are demonstrating it on the overhead.



Variables used:

L1,L2,L3,L5,L6

A,B,C,D,I,J,M,N,S,T,X,a,b

Y1

Pic1



Any comments, compliments, complaints, or suggestions for improvement should be 

sent to me at rjhomard@tenet.edu .