Graphing calculators for LHS students

Here is some information on the Texas Instruments graphing calculators in the TI-83/TI-84 series that have been required at least through 2011-2012 by the Lexington High School Math Department. Information on this page is correct to the best of my knowledge, but please ask your teacher if you are unsure before buying one.

Acceptable calculators include (roughly in order from cheapest to most expensive; some are discontinued and only available used):

• TI-83 series
  • TI-83
  • TI-83 Plus
  • TI-83 Plus Silver Edition
• TI-84 series (the major improvement over the TI-83 is the USB connector, helpful if you want to transfer files to/from a computer without a proprietary cable)
• TI-84
• TI-84 Plus
• TI-84 Plus Silver Edition
• Just a few from the TI-Nspire series
  • TI-Nspire with Touchpad (With available TI-84 Plus Keypad for compatibility)
  • TI-Nspire with Clickpad (with TI-84 Plus Keypad for compatibility)
  • (The other calculators in the TI-Nspire series, including any that have "CX" or "CAS" in the name, do not support the TI-84 Plus Keypad, so are not recommended though they do lots of cool stuff)

Some teachers may allow other graphing calculators, but there is often keystroke-by-keystroke instruction in class so students with other calculators are usually on their own as far as figuring out the keystrokes. So use an incompatible calculator only if your teacher allows and you are willing and able to figure out keystrokes on your own. More advanced calculators with computer algebra systems (CAS) may be disallowed by some teachers and some tests (e.g. ACT, International Baccalaureate) because they know too much! TI has a comparison page for its graphing calculators.

All these calculators are also legal on the PSAT, SAT Reasoning and Math Level 1 and Level 2 subject, and the ACT Math tests.

You can buy these locally (e.g. Staples) or online (often roughly half price if bought used). Even better, get them from siblings or graduating friends. If purchase is a hardship, you can probably get a loaner from the math department.

For the nerdy, there is a software program designed for Linux called TilEm that emulates calculators in this series. I have posted instructions for building TilEm on the Macintosh.

There are software tools that can do much more than graphing calculators. For graphing there's GeoGebra. WolframAlpha can probably do any problem you throw at it, numerically, algebraically and graphically. I also have made a list of open source software tools.

Jon Dreyer • Math tutor • Computer Science tutor • www.mathtutorlexington.com
781-696-2614 • 81 Baker Ave, Lexington MA 02421-6228 • email