Calculus Christmas Carols

NERD ALERT!
(That is just to let you know that this post may not be for you if you don't fit the above description...)

Yesterday the calculus teacher asked if his calculus class could come Christmas caroling to one of my math classes. They came to my math 1050/1060 class (college algebra/trig) which are the students who will hopefully sign up to take calculus next year.

I wished I had some accompaniment for them to help keep them on key, but it was amusing nonetheless. After they left, one of my students said, "Do they think that this will make us want to take calculus, or are they trying to scare us away?" :)

We had a good laugh about it, and then we ended up not having enough time for a quiz before class was over, so it turned into a take-home quiz. I bet my students were really disappointed about that--NOT!

Anyway, here are the lyrics for your enjoyment:

Riemann Sums
(sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

Riemann Sums, Riemann Sums
Counting Areas
Of rectangles whose widths get small
We need to count them all

Riemann Sums, Riemann Sums
Counting Areas
Of rectangles whose widths get small
We need to count them all.

We learn to integrate
It's really lots of fun.
It's easier to find
Than those old Riemann Sums
We learn to sub a u
When things get sort of hard
But most of all we tabulate
When we get sick of parts.
[repeat the refrain]


Derivatives, Derivatives
(sung to the tune of O Christmas Tree)
Derivatives, derivatives
They help us find the rate of change.
Derivatives, derivatives
They're not that hard, they're in our range.


The product rule is so much fun
It's one prime two plus two prime one
Derivatives, derivatives
They help us find the rate of change.


Calculus Class
(sung to the tune of Silent Night)
Calculus class, calculus class
Teacher's cruel
Hate the Chain Rule
Find the prime of f of g
It's supposed to fill us with glee
Times dx of the outside
By dx of the inside.