Sharpening Your Tools
- Author:
- Jaime Dianzon
Have you sharpened your tools lately?
OBJECTIVE: To learn how to use the Toolbar, Toolboxes, Tools, and Tooltips in GeoGebra Classic.
In the first lesson, you were introduced to the Toolbar, one of the most important features of GeoGebra Classic.
What is the Toolbar?
In general, a Toolbar is a set of icons or buttons that are part of a software program's user interface. It varies according to the chosen Perspective and View. In GeoGebra Classic's Graphics View Toolbar (shown below), each icon or button represents a Toolbox.
What are Toolboxes?
GeoGebra's Tools are organized in Toolboxes in such a way that similar Tools or Tools that generate the same type of new object are put together in the same Toolbox. You can open a Toolbox by clicking on its icon and selecting the Tool you need from the drop-down list.
What are Tools?
Every Perspective and View of Geogebra Classic provides a Toolbar with a selection of Tools specific for the Perspective and View you are working with. You may activate a Tool by clicking on the Toolbox button containing the Tool and then selecting the Tool from the drop-down list.
What are Tooltips?
If you select a Tool in GeoGebra Classic (shown below), a Tooltip appears at the bottom of the applet explaining how to use this Tool. You can also click Help in the Tooltip box to open a web page providing a more detailed explanation on how to use the Tool. The Tooltip might be missing in some applets.
TRY IT YOURSELF ...
Interact with the applet below for a few minutes. Click on the Toolboxes and hover over the Tools in the drop-down list. Then answer the questions that follow.
QUESTION 1: How many Tools are in the Move Toolbox? What are they?
QUESTION 2: What does the Tooltip for the Point Tool say?
TODAY you learned about toolbars, toolboxes, tools, and tooltips.
In future lessons, you will be asked to do some geometric constructions. Are you EXCITED?