Activity Overview
Students will use a slider to animate the graphing of a function of time that models the height of a capsule on the London Eye observation wheel as the wheel turns. Students will discover the concepts of amplitude, frequency, period, and midline. Students will create an appropriate equation to model the height of a capsule on the wheel.
Objectives
- Students will determine the type of function modeled by the height of a capsule on the London Eye observation wheel.
- Students will translate observational information to use as the parameters of a cosine function.
- Students will determine the amplitude, frequency, period, and midline of a cosine function when given information in verbal or graphical form.
Vocabulary
- amplitude
- frequency
- midline
- parameters of a function
- period
- periodic function
- sinusoidal function
About the Lesson
This lesson involves creating an appropriate equation to model the height of a capsule on the wheel.
As a result, students will:
- Use a slider to animate the function modeled by the height of a capsule on the London Eye observation wheel.
- Discover the concepts of amplitude, frequency, period, and midline.
- Determine the amplitude, frequency, period, and midline of the "observation wheel" function.