Education Technology

Investigation into the Sine Function

Subject Area
Math: Precalculus: Trigonometry (Triangle and Circular Functions)
Level
9-12
Activity Time
55 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire™ CX series
Resource Types
Lessons

Investigation into the Sine Function

Activity Overview

This activity leads the students through an investigation into the zeroes, domain and range of the sine graph. It continues investigating the transformations of the sine graph thus leading to the sinusoidal graph.

Before the Activity

Students should be familiar with graphing using transformations. This activity is a lead-in to the study of the sine curve. Students should have graphed a sine curve by hand before doing this activity. Students should also be familiar with how to operate the TI-Nspire.

During the Activity

Have students work with partners so that they can discuss their observations.

After the Activity

Activity extensions

  • Students could then do application problems that require them to write their own sinusoidal function.
  • This activity could be applied to other trigonometric graphs.
  • Subject Area
    Math: Precalculus: Trigonometry (Triangle and Circular Functions)
    Level
    9-12
    Activity Time
    55 Minutes
    TI Calculator
    TI-Nspire™ CX series
    Resource Types
    Lessons
    iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
    Vernier EasyData,Vernier EasyLink and Vernier EasyTemp are registered trademarks of Vernier Science Education.