Teacher Delivery Guide: Calculus (CA)

Content Learners should be able to Notes

Calculus (CA)
Differentiation CA1 Differentiate kx n where n is a positive integer or 0, and the dy
i.e. use of notation , f ( x ) , x .
sum of such functions. dx

CA2 Know that the gradient function gives the gradient of the
curve and measures the rate of change of y with x .

CA3 Know that the gradient of the function is the gradient of the
tangent at that point.

CA4 Find the equation of a tangent and normal at any point on a e.g. Find the equations of normal to the curve
curve. y = x 3 - 2x + 3 at the point (1, 2).

CA5 Use differentiation to find stationary points on a curve.

CA6 Determine the nature of a stationary point.

CA7 Sketch a curve with known stationary points.

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FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 1 © OCR 2018

Content Learners should be able to Notes
Integration
 y dx
n
CA8 Integrate kx where n is a positive integer or 0, and the
sum of such functions.

CA9 Be aware that integration is the reverse of differentiation. e.g. be able to find the equation of a curve,
given its gradient function and one point.

CA10 Know what is meant by an indefinite and a definite integral. Understand the constant of integration.

CA11 Evaluate definite integrals. a

y dx

CA12 Find the area between a curve, two ordinates and the x-axis.

CA13 Find the area between two curves. b b

a f( x ) dx  a g( x ) dx
Application to kinematics CA14 Use differentiation and integration with respect to time to
solve simple problems involving variable acceleration.

CA15 Recognise the special case where the use of constant

acceleration formulae is appropriate.

FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 2 © OCR 2018

General Approach
The topic of differentiation lends itself very well to a visual approach using sketches of the curves
and their gradients to back up the algebraic work. Not only does this support the GCSE work on
graphs but it also reduces the amount of algebra needed as some results become more obvious,
such as whether the stationary points are maxima or minima. Excellent use can be made of
technology to offload the computation and practical aspects of curve sketching, in order to facilitate
the visualisation of a large number of members of any family of curves. Also the use of “sliders” in
dynamic geometry or computer algebra packages to visualise how changing the value of a
coefficient or constant changes the shape of the curve and the gradient function.

The key starting point of integration is the recognition that integration is the reverse of
differentiation. If the understanding of differentiation is not in place, then this topic is much more
difficult. If it is being taught at a separate time to differentiation then a recap may be useful before
beginning, if it being taught as a direct follow up, or at the same time, this should not be necessary.

That there are two purposes to integration should also be made clear. One being to find the
original function given its gradient is perhaps the most obvious when considering it as the reverse
of integration. However, it is also an infinite summation process and therefore can be used to
calculate the area. This can and should be done visually so that they understand both its nature
and as a consequence that areas below the axis are negative.

Polynomial integration should be relatively straightforward with the exception of the constant c .
Although slope fields are not covered, they are useful for demonstrating the differing values of the
constant c , and technology can be very useful for visualising and experimenting with the family of
curves that are generated by integration.

Students will be familiar with the equations of motion with constant acceleration from mathematics
1
and science. Differentiating s  ut  at 2 with respect to t makes a good introduction to the
2
application of calculus in kinematics and together with investigating the area under a velocity time
graph make a good concrete use of calculus in a practical situation. The physical world is full of
moving objects, the use of practical demonstrations, experiments and simulations can help
learners make the link between the algebraic formulae and real world experience.

FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 3 © OCR 2018

Prior knowledge
OCR 1 Number Operations and Integers

Students often struggle with calculus due to fundamental issues with the rules of arithmetic.

OCR 3 Indices and surds

Similar issues with calculus may relate to problems working with indices.

OCR 4 Approximation and Estimation

Care should be given to quoting answers to an appropriate level of accuracy.

OCR 5 Ratio, Proportions and Rates of Change

An understanding of rates of change link to graphical representations and finding gradient by

differentiation.

OCR 6 Algebra

Analytical calculus requires confidence with working with algebraic terms, expressions and
dy
equations. The link between the completed square form and the evaluation of  0 can be
dx
made to review GCSE quadratic functions. This section of the GCSE course also includes the use
of constant acceleration kinematic formulae.

OCR 7 Graphs of Equations and Functions

It is important to link all work on calculus to the graphs of the functions to reinforce understanding
and help provide a sense check when solving complex problems. The GCSE course includes an
informal appreciation of gradient and areas under graphs, which also links to the numerical
methods section in the FSMQ for estimation and interpreting the results in context.

Misconceptions
Many problems with calculus can be linked to errors in general arithmetic and algebraic
manipulation.

dy
Understanding and d as operators significantly helps future work on parametric and implicit
dx dx
differentiation, particularly the latter. If this is not achieved early on learners tend not to grasp the
dx
strange that appears each time that a function of y is differentiated, nor how x and y as
dy
functions of t can be combined back together.

FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 4 © OCR 2018

Classifying maxima and minima using second differentials only can often lead to a lack of
understanding of what is being achieved. To avoid this it is important to support all the initial
calculus work with graphs so that students fully understand what is taking place.

The constant c is one of the most common misconceptions in integration. Often when
differentiation is taught learners are informed that a constant term “just disappears”. If this is taught
in relation to the transformation of graphs, so that the constant term simply moves the graph up or
down and does not affect the gradient, then adding it back in at the end is less problematic. The
function, as a result of integration is the simplest case and could actually be any of a number of
parallel functions.

Progression
FSMQ

This section links closely with the numerical methods section. Teachers may wish to start with the
numerical methods as a natural progression from the informal estimation within GCSE before
introducing the analytical calculus of this section. Alternatively, the section on numerical methods
could follow this section to cover those situations where students do not yet have the techniques
for analytical results.

AS/A Level Maths

This section introduces the concept of calculus that is developed in the AS/A Level courses.

Thinking Contextually

The extensive use of graphs throughout this topic is vital to gaining an understanding of what is
going on. However, there are other ways to set this process into context.

The work on rates of change should all be set into practical contexts so that this too becomes a
practical based topic rather than purely symbolic manipulation. However, it is often here that
students can find a difficulty because each type of question is slightly different and there is no
“magic formula” to solve them. A carefully built understanding of the format of this section should
help to overcome this.

FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 5 © OCR 2018

Resources
Title
Introduction to derivatives
Derivatives of polynomials
Can you find... curvy cubics
edition
Exploring the gradient
A Tangent is …
Tangents and normals
Stationary points
Constant of integration
Introduction to integration
Additional integrals
FSMQ: Additional Mathematics
Organisation Description Ref
Maths is fun A clear guide to the basics of differentiation and how it occurs extending CA1
through to polynomial and other functions.
Interactive Maths A visual and example based approach to polynomial differentiation. CA1
Underground Maths This activity gets students thinking about how they can use their CA1, CA5,
knowledge of derivatives and work “backwards”, which is often a fruitful CA6 and
way of working. The problem could be used to check or consolidate CA7
understanding of stationary points or to motivate integration. It could also
be used without any calculus as a sketching activity when exploring the
nature of cubic curves.
Geogebra A visual chance to explore the gradient at various points for cubic CA2
functions.
Underground Maths Starter exercise to discuss the definition of a tangent. CA3
Geogebra This demonstration allows the user to input the function and then finds the CA4
tangent and normal at a given point.
Geogebra A neat demonstration that allows the learner to enter a function and to find CA5
the stationary points visually, along with their classification.
Geogebra A visual demonstration that shows that the constant of integration has no CA9
effect on the gradient function.
Maths is fun A basic guide to the foundations of integration with 10 multiple choice CA10
questions to follow.
Underground Maths This problem asks students to think about links between some related CA11
integrals.
6 © OCR 2018
 Title
What else do you know?
Differentiation of rates of
change
Uniform and Non Uniform
Acceleration
constant acceleration and
average speed
Traffic
FSMQ: Additional Mathematics
Organisation Description Ref
Underground Maths This challenging problem reinforces the importance of considering what CA12
functions look like. The resource presents an image of a part of an
unknown function. Students are given the area under the curve in a
specified region and asked to consider what they can deduce about a
selection of related integrals involving transformations of the original
function. This is a problem that challenges students to apply geometrical
reasoning to something that they might usually only consider algebraically.
The subtle difference between the value of the integral and the value of the
area under the curve will come out when tackling this problem.
Interactive Maths This is an application of differentiation to variable acceleration. CA14
O Level Physics Notes Initial notes and graphical representations demonstrating the difference CA14 and
between uniform and non uniform acceleration. CA15
Geogebra Simulation of car and scooter from traffic lights where the car accelerates CA15
from u=0 and the scooter has constant u=8m/s
Geogebra Set of twenty simulations of road situations and the associated kinematic CA15
graphs.
7 © OCR 2018
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FSMQ: Additional Mathematics 8 © OCR 2018