Classroom Note: Putting Constraints in Optimization for First-Year Calculus Students

A method of presenting optimization to first-semester calculus students is demonstrated. The method is based on the Lagrange multiplier approach, and the geometry of a given problem becomes the central focus of the effort to find a solution. The method proposed here deviates from the traditional approach in that the student is asked to examine a constrained optimization problem and the geometry of the problem remains the central theme.