Exploring the Unit Circle

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Geometry: Circles

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-89 / TI-89 Titanium

Applications

Cabri Geometry for TI-89

Other Materials

This is Activity 1 from the EXPLORATIONS Book:
Discovering Math on the Voyage 200.

Resource Types

Lessons

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Exploring the Unit Circle

Activity Overview

In this activity, students explore the properties of a unit circle and its mapping functions.

Before the Activity

Select the Cabri Geometry application on the calculator

See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity

Print pages 1 - 6 from the attached PDF file for your class

During the Activity

Distribute the pages to the class.

Follow the Activity procedures:

Construct a unit circle with origin at (0, 0) and radius of 1 unit

Display the equation of the circle

Mark a point a (x, y) on the circle in the first quadrant and identify its coordinates

Draw a ray from the center of the circle to this point

Measure the central angle (angle formed by the constructed ray and the ray that is the positive x-axis)

Move the point on the circle and measure the new central angle

Repeat for other points on the circle

Record the coordinates of the points and the measure of the central angle

Plot a graph of angle versus x-coordinate and angle versus y-coordinate

Graph the functions sin(x) and cos(x) and compare the graphs

Observe that the amplitude of both graphed functions represents the radius of the circle

After the Activity

Review student results:

As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging

Re-teach concepts as necessary

Download Files

Download All Files (ZIP)

Before the Activity Files

Teacher Notes Appendix A PDF Teacher Notes Appendix B PDF Teacher Notes PDF

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Geometry: Circles

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-89 / TI-89 Titanium

Applications

Cabri Geometry for TI-89

Other Materials

This is Activity 1 from the EXPLORATIONS Book:
Discovering Math on the Voyage 200.

Resource Types

Lessons

Report an Issue

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Exploring the Unit Circle

Cabri Geometry for TI-89

Exploring the Unit Circle

Before the Activity Files

Cabri Geometry for TI-89

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