Week 1 - Welcome to the Mathematics Wiki
There are a few things we need to do to get class started this week. The very first item is Introductions.
The second item is School Rules, Rights, and Responsibilities. We'll take some time in class to go over these documents, including printing any permission slips you need to sign for class access to the Internet. Most of these you know already, but it's a good idea to cover the bases at the beginning of class.
LWSD Student Rights & Responsibilities Bellevue School District Rights & Responsibilities
Now that we all have permission to use the school Internet facilities, let's go back and do Introductions again. I would like to ensure that everyone has access to e-mail, and can communicate with each other outside of class. Please use the form at the bottom of this page to send me your e-mail contact information. Copy and paste the following information into the comment before hitting the button:
I have read and understand the school rules regarding Internet access policies. I will also
have any associated permission slips signed and returned to the teacher by the first Tuesday
in the second week of class.
When I receive e-mail from everyone, I will create a distribution list and e-mail these addresses to everyone in the classroom.
This is a good time to acquire an e-mail address if you've never had one before, or sign up for one specifically for this class. Google Gmail, hotmail, and mail are all e-mail providers that will allow you to have an e-mail address for free. While everyone is working at their desks, this is a good time to let me know about accommodating special needs, if we have not done so already.
Basic Trigonometric Functions
Basic Trigonometric functions are concerned with functions of angles, and how they relate to periodic phenomena. Periodic phenomena can be described with mathematical formulas that are defined on the unit circle, which is a circle with radius of one unit.
Read the chapters in our book on the unit circle, pi, sines, and cosines.
Choose at least one of the following 3 sites on trigonometry, and comment using the form below, or any e-mail product. If you do not use the form, send your assignments via e-mail to yvonner@u.washington.edu.
Oolong Trigonometry
http://www.teachersfirst.com/20/getsource.cfm?id=4486 (if this doesn't take you to the Trigonometry section, use the link at the left of the page)
http://www.themathpage.com/aTrig/trigonometry.htm
VIDEO: Basic Trigonometry
Exercises
Read Math:Trigonometry and do the associated exercises.
More Trigonometry practice: http://www.teachersfirst.com/20/getsource.cfm?id=9325
Sines
What is the Law of Sines?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_sines
What are wave forms and why are they important?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sine_wave
Why is it that radar uses radians instead of pi? Read Radians to Degrees and Back Again.
VIDEO: The Law of Sines
Discussion:
How does the sine wave relate to the unit circle? Can you find an example on the Internet?
Cosines
What is the Law of Cosines? How does it relate to basic trigonometry?
http://www.trigonometry-help.net/law-of-cosines.php
Discussion:
How do cosines relate to the unit circle? Can you find an example on the Internet?
VIDEO: The Law of Cosines
Pi
What is Pi, who discovered it, and why is it important?
pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is always denoted with the greek letter named pi. For more information, let us ask Dr. Math about pi.
What else does pi have to do with circles? see The Circle. This is a good review of how circles are used before we go much further into similar mathematics using trigonometric functions instead of circumference, radius, and diameter.
VIDEO: The Unit Circle
Real World Trigonometry
How is trigonometry used in the real world? Navigation, engineering, and astronomy are all sciences that rely heavily on trigonometry. Can you find a word problem from another science that uses sines, cosines, radians, the unit circle, or pi? Do not solve the problem, just identify it and bring it to class.
This is a paper and pencil exercise.