Workplace & Apprenticeship Math 10- Discovering Heights In Real Life Situations, And Applying The Trig Ratios

Workplace & Apprenticeship Math 10- Discovering Heights In Real Life Situations, And Applying The Trig Ratios

The way this assignment is formatted, it is meant to be outside measuring inaccessibly tall objects.  This may not necessarily be the best choice for winter time.  Also, there is a portion where the iPad is required to rest on the ground… adaptations may need to be made if there is snow on the ground.  Measure from chest height, but then that additional height calculation will need to be taken into account in their work.

The students already had a very good understanding of the primary trig ratios and how to use them, as they had already taken Foundations and Pre-Calculus 10.  We did a quick review of sine, cosine and tangent. If I had a group of students who were unfamiliar with the ratios, I would take a day or two to introduce the ratios.  A good understanding of the trig ratios is necessary for them to be able to do a good job with this assignment. 

Since we were using apps on the iPad, I took a good 20-30 minutes to explain the logistics behind how to hold the iPad, etc. in order to get accurate measurements with the Tape Measure app and the Clinometer app.

Outcomes:

WA 10.8 – Demonstrate an understanding of primary trigonometric ratios (sine, cosine and tangent).