Handy Dandy Trigonometry
Hiawatha High School Students benefit from "hands on" approach to Mathematics Course!
by Karl Kliewer
February 25, 2008
Trigonometry – the study of triangles, attributed to ancient Greek Mathematicians of the 3rd and 4th centuries. This sounds hard, difficult to understand, outdated and obsolete in today’s modern society – not to mention – BORING! That is – unless you happen to be studying Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus at Hiawatha High School this school year.
In an attempt to show how Trigonometry can be used in the real world and help students enjoy their Mathematics instruction, Hiawatha High School offers “Handy Dandy” Trigonometry. This fun, catchy title describes how hands on activities are incorporated into the classroom to help with the learning and enjoyment of this upper-level mathematics course. Students have many opportunities to apply Trigonometric Concepts outside of reading them in a text book and “working problems”.
In the spring and the fall there are some beautiful days on which trig lessons can be learned/taught in the beautiful Kansas sunshine. Drawing graphs of Trig functions works well on paper or a marker board, but why not try using the lines on the school track as your graphing and placing markers on the track and visualizing your graph from the top row of the bleachers? To calculate the height of a tall object a “high-tech” angle of elevation measuring device can be constructed with a protractor, some string and your pencil. Then measurements of goal posts, light posts other tall objects can be easily and accurately calculated. Learning to measure angles in radians can be done with a team of students, a long piece of string and a crack in the sidewalk for the initial ray of a Standard Position Angle. One beautiful Friday last fall, a trig class had the opportunity to calculate the radian measure of the mushroom fountain at the Hiawatha Aquatic Park as well as the number of radians represented by the swim lane dividers stored on a circular spool.
When the weather is cold, inside activities can be educational and tasty! Instead of learning to calculate all of the angle and side measures of a triangle, how about calculating these values of a big triangular sugar cookie and then labeling the answers with icing to top off your “triangle” before you eat it! Learning the definition of radians using “Licorice ropes” as string around a Standard Position Circle is fun and rewarding. Conic section “candy graphs” help students visualize the relationship between the vertex, focus and directrix of a parabolic section. A great cross curriculum activity allows students to learn about a geographic location somewhere on earth and use sine and cosine waves to approximate the average daily temperature during a full year cycle at this “vacation destination”. Students dress according to their vacation spot and bring cuisine to share with their fellow Trig-travelers!
Trigonometry is an important step in a student’s mathematics education and preparation for college and the continued study of Mathematics. In additional to the opportunity to learn Trigonometry and its applications, Hiawatha High School students have their hands full when it comes to Trig! Hands full of real life applications and a wealth of knowledge to take them “to infinity….and beyond!”
