Mr. Gary Lindner

Biography:

Gary Lindner was born in DC and raised in Kensington , MD. Following high school he studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Stanford University (in California, in Paris, France and in Vienna, Austria), with a 2-year church mission in between, earning a BA in French Literature and a MA in Education. After 5 years teaching Math in public schools in California and Maryland , plus a private school in Switzerland , a frustrated Mr. Lindner left the classroom for his backup career because he was not really getting much time to actually teach.

After 15 years in Information Systems, Mr. Lindner returned to the classroom in September 2000 at The GW Community School to teach math, the best job in the world! He also manages the student and teacher computers, the school network, and developed the CoyoteTracks software used for recordkeeping, which he is migrating to a web-based system. Mr. Lindner has a wonderful wife Jénee, three great sons (two of whom, Chris and Sam, are graduates of GWCS), and two cozy dogs. He enjoys teaching, reading, international travel, sailing, and being home with his family. Mr. Lindner is also also the coach of the championship GWCS Robotics teams, which recently competed at the World Championships in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Courses Taught:

Trigonometry / Analytic Geometry:

Trigonometry is a two-semester course that provides students with a thorough treatment of Trigonometry through the study of trigonometric definitions, applications, graphing, and solving trigonometric equations and inequalities, with an emphasis placed on the connections between right triangle ratios, trigonometric functions, and circular functions.

Following the study of trigonometry, the analytic geometry part of the course studies the other transcendental functions.

Throughout the course emphasis will be placed on using trigonometry and analytic geometry as a tool to solve real-life problems. Graphing calculators will be used to assist in teaching and learning and to enhance understanding of realistic applications through modeling. They will also aid in the investigation of functions and their inverses, as well as provide a powerful tool for solving/verifying equations and inequalities.

This course satisfies the Virginia Commonwealth Standards of Learning for Trigonometry and provides the foundation for students to pursue a sequence of advanced mathematical studies from Precalculus to Advanced Placement Calculus.

Precalculus:

Precalculus is a one-year college-level course that develops student's understanding of algebraic and transcendental functions, parametric and polar equations, sequences and series, and vectors. In this course students prepare for Calculus by revisiting many techniques of Mathematics previously studied. In Precalculus, the foundations of these techniques are analyzed and the relationships between the various techniques are studied. Additional focus is placed on functions, including patterns that apply to all functions. Students extend their study of trigonometry, including extensive work on analytic trigonometry and analytic geometry. Complex numbers and vectors are used to extend the study of analytic geometry beyond the Cartesian Plane. As the same patterns are repeated throughout the various areas previously studied independently, the stage is set for the unification of all mathematics achieved through Calculus. The course concludes with an introduction to limits and the two core problems of calculus, the Tangent Line Problem and the Area Problem. Extensive use is made of graphing calculators to visualize the graphs of functions studied and to study numerical patterns. The techniques learned are also applied to solving real-life applications.

This course satisfies the Virginia Commonwealth Standards of Learning for Mathematical Analysis and provides the foundation for students to pursue a sequence of Advanced Placement Calculus. Prerequisite: Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

AP Calculus BC:

AP Calculus BC is a one-year high school course that is comparable to calculus courses in colleges and universities. It is intended to be challenging and demanding. A higher level of commitment will be required to be successful in AP Calculus BC. It is expected that students who take the course will seek college credit, college placement, or both, from institutions of higher learning.

Calculus is the mathematics of change – velocities and accelerations. Calculus is also the mathematics of tangent lines, slopes, areas, volumes, arc lengths, curvatures, and a variety of other concepts that have enabled scientists, engineers, and economists to model real-life situations. Although Precalculus mathematics also deals with velocities, accelerations, tangent lines, and so on, there is a fundamental difference between precalculus mathematics and calculus. Precalculus mathematics is more static, whereas calculus is more dynamic. The general strategy involves reformulation of Precalculus mathematics through the use of the limit process.

The content of AP Calculus BC is generally determined by The College Board, and is designed to prepare the student to take the AP Calculus BC Exam. Most colleges and universities grant advanced placement and/or credit based of success in the course and performance on the AP Exam. This course syllabus has been approved by The College Board for use of the designation AP.

Prerequisites: Algebra 2/Trigonometry, Precalculus.

Robotics - Design and Programming:

Robotics – Design & Programming is a one- or two-semester elective course which introduces students to the world of robotics.  Students learn about the concepts of autonomous (pre-programmed) and remote-controlled robot design, including elements of structure, motion, sensing, communicating and decision-making.  Students build actual working robots using the Lego Mindstorms™ and Tetrix™ building systems.  Students also can learn to write the actual control programs for the robots using RobotC™, a version of the common “c” programming language designed specifically for use with robots.  Advanced students will also have the opportunity to learn to use commercial-quality computer-assisted design software to help design the robots and test their functionality in a virtual environment.

An essential part of the course is our participation in the FIRST™ Tech Challenge program.  This program announces a new game each year in September and manages a series of competitions leading up to a World Championship event.  With a motto of “gracious professionalism”, students learn to work together as a team to design, build, program, maintain, drive and support a robot to play that year’s game.  They also learn to work with other teams randomly assigned as partners for a particular match.  The competitions also lead to team spirit activities including t-shirts, costumes, decorations and presentations as well as travel to competition sites. Visit the Robotics Website.

Politics Through the Media:

How do you get news and information?  Network TV News? Internet sites?  Radio news shows?  Newspapers?  OK, from which ones?  Does it matter?

Politics Through the Media will explore the differences between different sources of news by focusing on the political stories of today.  We will study the same stories as reported by different sources in the same category.  One week we will use newspapers, comparing the same story as reported in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, USA Today, and other newspapers.  Another week it will be TV Network News;  another week TV Opinion Programs; another week Talk Radio.  And so on.

We will review the materials in class, but students will be encouraged to explore outside class to apply what they learn. At the end of each week a short 1-page paper will be required explaining your findings and conclusions.  

Hours Available For Extra Help: