mardi 6 mai 2014

Trig without the unit circle

My state's current HS math standard includes a brief unit on trigonometry. It introduces trigonometric ratios without ever introducing the unit circle.



This supposedly will change under Common Core, though I haven't seen the textbook.



The old standards are still in place for some students, and I may do some tutoring to help them pass an 85-question exam that will contain one or two trig questions at most. I don't want to ignore trig, but it's not a high priority.



The students I work with are no kind of elite - they have had bumpy rides through their teenage years. Most have some grounding in algebra and geometry but they also have significant gaps. Is there a way I can approach trigonometry that does not seem totally arbitrary without introducing the unit circle?



For these students, the standard is: They can use the mnemonic SOHCAHTOA to pick the right answer on a multiple-choice test. Common Core may go too far in the other direction, but that's a different thread.





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