Exploring Trigonometry
Cooperative Activity
You will work in partners. One person is going to work the GeoGebra application (GeoGebra partner) and the other is going to work the calculator (Calculator partner). There are directions of each partner per section.
Right Triangle Trigonometry
Sine
GeoGebra partner:
1. Measure the lengths of AB and AC (opposite and hypotenuse) for each window using the toolbar.
2. Click and drag point C around to change the lengths of the legs.
Calculator partner:
1. Have the GeoGebra partner provide you with three different lengths of the legs for each window.
2. For each length, plug in the ratio AB/AC (opposite/hypotenuse) into your calculator.
3. Note what you observe.
Record your observations
Calculator partner: What do you notice about your ratios?
Cosine
GeoGebra partner:
1. Measure the lengths of BC and AC (adjacent and hypotenuse) for each window using the toolbar.
2. Click and drag point C around to change the lengths of the legs.
Calculator partner:
1. Have the GeoGebra partner provide you with three different lengths of the legs for each window.
2. For each length, plug in the ratio BC/AC (adjacent/hypotenuse) into your calculator.
3. Note what you observe.
Record your observations
Calculator partner: What do you notice about your ratios?
Tangent
GeoGebra partner:
1. Measure the lengths of AB and BC (opposite and adjacent) for each window using the toolbar.
2. Click and drag point C around to change the lengths of the legs.
Calculator partner:
1. Have the GeoGebra partner provide you with three different lengths of the legs for each window.
2. For each length, plug in the ratio AB/BC (opposite/adjacent) into your calculator.
3. Note what you observe.
Record your observations
Calculator partner: What do you notice about your ratios?
Now that you're done...
What do you conclude?
Now move to the activity sheet that the Calculator partner is working on to discover more about trigonometry!