Education Technology


Unit Circle

Activity Overview

  • Students will use the unit circle to find the value of trigonometric functions of various angles.
  • Students will find connections between the unit circle and the trigonometric functions sine and cosine.
  • Before the Activity

    Teacher preparation
    Download the attached .Doc documents and the TI_Nspire document. You will need to copy the .tns document to students' handheld before the exploration.
    Read activities in advance

    During the Activity

    Classroom management tips
    Be prepared to guide students during the exploration. Encourage students to look for patterns, make connections, and share their findings during the exploration.

    After the Activity

    Assessment and evaluation:

  • Make students write down their findings and share their discoveries with the rest of the group.
  • The teacher can formally assess the students' writings.
  • The teacher can informally assess students' participation during the group discussion.


  • Activity extensions:
  • Students can convert angle measures between degrees and radians.
  • Students can find the trigonometric functions on the unit circle.