UNIT6NOTES

HannahMandell

Unit6isallaboutrelationshipsthatexistbetweenanglesandsidesintriangles.
Whetheritsconcerningone,two,orthreetriangles,therelationshipsthatexistdonot
change.Trigonometryhelpsusfindmissingsidelengths,angles,andeventheareaof
regularpolygons.Itisveryusefulandapplicableintherealworld,forthepossibilities
areendlessifarighttriangleisapplicable.Patternsexistbetweenanglesandsides,
andwecanmemorizerelationships.Fromthere,wecancalculateveryquicklythe
lengthoranglemeasuresinatriangle.

LESSONONE:
Lessononeismainlycomprisedofthebasics.Itisabriefandnondirect
introductiontoworldoftrigonometry.Thetopicsinthislessonmainlyincludedilations
andscalefactors.TheseconceptsareimperativebecausemorethanhalfofthisUnit
talksabouthowtofindmissinglengths/anglesinsimilartriangles.
Thestudentswerealsoreintroducedtotheconceptofproportionsand
crossmultiplying.Theseskillsandtheknowledgeneededtoknowwhentoimplement
themarealsoveryimportantbecausetheyareusedthroughouttheentireUnit.They
areusedinsimilartriangles,soiftheproportionismessedupornotcorrect,thenitis
impossibletofindthecorrectvariablesandattheleast,findthesimilaritytheorem.

LESSONTWO:
LessontwoiswherewefocusonHOWtoprovethetrianglessimilar.Previously,
inLessonone,welearnedhowtosetituptomakethetwotrianglesproportional.Now
weusethatskilltoprovethewholetrianglessimilarandbywhattheorem.Thethree
theorems(shortcuts)weusetoprovetrianglessimilarare:(A=angle,S=side)
AA~,SSS~,andSAS~(whereAistheincludedangleofthetwosides).
Uponfullyunderstandingthesimilaritytheorems,welearnedhowtoidentify
whichtheoremwasbeingusedinthepicturegiven.Onceagain,theskillofproportions
andcrossmultiplyingcameintobeneficialuse,andwereusedtofindwhatsimilarity
theoremwasusedorshouldbeused.Thislessondugusslightlydeeperintothe
conceptsoftrig,yetstilldidntbreakthesurface.

LESSONTHREE:
Lessonthreeexplainsthatthewholeideaofproportionalityisextremely
importantinfindingdistancesthatareinaccessible.Inthislessonweexplore3different
situationsthatwewillfindrepeatedfurtherintothisUnitwithspecialproportions.
Memoryandkeenattentionwasthekeyyouhadtorecognizewhichtypeof
situationitwasandwhichTheorem/Corollary(eitherTriangleProportionalityTheorem,
TwoTransversalProportionalityCorollary,orTriangleAngleBisectorTheorem)proved
itsimilarandthensetuptheproportionaccordingly.Thebestthingaboutthislessonis,
thatwedidproblemswiththeseexactsituationsintheminLesson2.Ofcourse,we
didntknowthetheoremsthatwerebehindthesituations,butwedidknowhowtosolve
themwithproportionsandsimilaritytheorems.Thenotoriousproportionsstrikeagain!
GoodthingwerefreshedourknowledgeontheminLessonone.Attheendofhis
lessonwehadaquiztomakesurethatwewerekeepingupwiththenecessary
information.

LESSONFOUR:
ThisisthetrulyPreTriglesson.Lessonfouriswhenwestartedlookinginto
similarityespeciallyinRIGHTtriangles.Righttrianglesareimportantbecause
mathematicianshavefoundthatifyoudrawanaltitudefromthe90degreeangleofa
righttriangle,youwillfindthatthe2newtrianglesformedarerelatedtotheoriginal
largetriangleinaveryspecialway.Additionally,theconceptofgeometricmeanthe
positivesquarerootoftwopositivenumbersproductisintroduced.
Kindergartenteachingtechniqueswereused(cuttingandcoloring)tohelpus
understandthe3magicrighttrianglesthatfitintoeachotherproportionally.
Heartbeat(S1/alt=alt/S2)andRabbit(hyp/L2=L2/S2)arewaystohelpfindmissing
sidelengthsinthese3magicrighttriangles.Theyarewaysoffindingthegeometric
mean.Thismeansthattheyhelpedusfindthecorrespondingsidesinthetriangles,so
thatweknewwhattocorrectlyproportionalize.
Again,Lesson1aidedusinthecompletionofthislesson(eventhoughthe
conceptofproportionsisreallycomprehendedbynow).Lessonfourintroducedmore
thanitwelcomedback.Thismeansthatitdidntbringbackasmuchprevious
informationasotherlessons,insteaditcreateditsownimportantinformationthatsetthe
sceneforthefollowinglessons.HeartbeatandRabbitareusedforthedurationofthe
Unit,anditturnedoutthatslyMrs.Kightsneakedsomeproblemsinthatdealtwith
AngleofElevationandDepression,sothatwesubliminallygotpreparedforthenext
lessons.

LESSONFIVE:
Lessonfiveiswhatwehadallbeenwaitingfor..TRIGBASICS!Herewelearn:
SOHCAHTOAa.k.a.sine,cosine,andtangent.Knowingthesetrigonomicratiosenables
ustofindmissingsidelengthsandacuteangles.
Weappliedthemtorealworldsituationstofindthevariables.Themainimportant
notewasknowingwhentousewhichtrigonomicratio.Wehadtobeabletoidentify
whichsidesandanglesarewegivenwith,sothatwecoulddecidewhatwaytosolve
theproblem.SituationsthatwelearnedaboutinLesson3and4wereformatted
differentlysothatwehadtousetrigonometry.Butbecausewewerealready
comfortablewiththosetypesofsituations,wehadaneasiertimecreatingthe
proportionsfortheproblem,thussolvingmoreefficiently.Thislessonisalsovery
importantbecauseitcontainsthebasicbuildingblocksoftrigthatarenecessaryto
completeallofthefollowinglessons.
IMPORTANTNOTE:alwaysmakesurethatyourcalculatorisindegree
mode,orelseyouwillnothaveafuntime!

LESSONSIX:
LessonsixisallaboutAngleofElevationandAngleofDepression.Theseare
anglesformedbythelineofsightandimaginary,parallel,horizontallinesthatstartat
thebeginningofthesight.Interestinglyenough,theAOEandAODarecongruent(even
thoughonewouldmostlikelythinktheyareopposites)becausetheyarecorresponding
angles.
Itisarelativelysimpleconcept,soitishardenedbycombiningitwithallofthe
previouslessonsregardingtrig,similarityandproportions.Thismeansthatinsteadof
tellingyouflatoutwhattheacuteangleis,youaretoldtheAOEorAOD.Thiscanalso
bereversedwhereyouaretoldtheAOEorAODandexpectedtofindasidelength.
Thislessontrulyisanamalgamofskillsandknowledgefrompriorlessons.

LESSONSEVEN:
LessonsevenisthelastlessonbeforetheUnitCBA.Hereweputthefinalpieces
ofthepuzzletogether.7isaboutusingSOHCAHTOAcombinedwithallprevious
knowledgetofindtheareaofregularfigures.
InUnit5welearnedthatyoucanfindtheareaofaregularfigurebyusingthe
equation:A=aP.So:
1.Wearegivenaperimeter,radius,sideorapothemlength
2.Findtheinterioranglesoftheregularfigure
3.Findtheacuteangleofthefigurebyeitherdividingtheint.angleintwoor360/n
4.Usetrigratiostofindtheremainingvariableandthenjustplugeverythingintothe
formulaA=aP

Simple?Ehnotquite,butitisveryeasyonceyougetthehangofit.This
lessonincorporatesallofthepreviouslessons(proportions,crossmultiplying,proving
similarinrighttriangles,sine,cosine,tangent,AOEandAOD)andmostoftheprevious
Units(pythagoreantheorem,rulesofregularfigures,454590.306090,A=aP,
propertiesspecifictospecificpolygons,andA=d1d2).