Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Chickscope Egg Math: Equations for an Ellipse

For Students 9th - 10th
Investigation and discussion of the way "Pin and string construction," works in producing an ellipse. Works through the corresponding equations in a well-ordered way.
Activity
Math Words

Math words.com: Foci of an Ellipse

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The definition for foci for an ellipse is given and the definition for ellipse is given. Also gives a diagram and the equation for an ellipse in standard form.
Activity
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Web Math: Graphing Ellipses

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
WebMath offers a java applet that allows you to input information about an ellipse, in one of four forms, and gives you the graph of the ellipse.
Activity
Math Words

Math words.com: Ellipse

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Brief definition for ellipse. The standard form for the equation of an ellipse is given also.
Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Chickscope Egg Math: The Shape of an Egg

For Students 9th - 10th
Drawing a perfect ellipse with pins and string is demonstrated with a java simulation.
Unit Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Chickscope Eggmath: The Shape of an Egg

For Students 6th - 8th
An interactive page offering a view of a rotating egg, information on rotational symmetry, and definitions of related topics.
Handout
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The Math Forum: Analytic Geometry Formulas, Ellipses

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A brief overview from the Math Forum on calculating various measures of segments, like major and minor axes and distance from focus to center, is given. Additionally, equations of ellipse in general and standard forms are listed.
Website
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math: Equations of Conics

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Posed with a student question about equations of conics, Dr. Math provides some insight on the standard form of parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas. One example is shown.
Handout
Purple Math

Purplemath: Conics: An Overview

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Introduces the basics of conics in algebra, including a flow-chart for determining which sort of conic is represented by a given equation.
eBook
NASA

Nasa: Kepler's Third Law

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from NASA states Kepler's third law of motion and extends it to develop an equation for the velocity of an orbiting planet.
Website
Other

The Krell Institute: Project: Rotation of Axes

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides an explanation of the equation for rotation of axes with conic sections includes an example with an ellipse.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Analysis: Explicit Formulas

For Students 10th - 12th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In this lesson students learn about explicit formulas for identifying terms of a sequence without knowing the preceding term. Students examine guided notes, review...