3D Trigonometry Lesson Plan

Roy Herpin III

Big idea of the

lesson or
mathematical
concept:

Students will learn about the application of trigonometric

properties, functions, and formulas to a three-dimensional context.
This lesson will help bridge the understanding of the relevance of
complex mathematics in the real world.

Specific Learning
Outcomes:

By the end of this lesson students will be able to apply previous

knowledge of trigonometric functions, rules, formulas, and
relationships in three dimensions.
Students will be able to visual two-dimensional figures in a threedimensional apparatus and use the appropriate formulas to
analyze, understand, and explain the figures both in twodimensional and three-dimensional space.

Standards the
lesson addresses

What definitions,
concepts, or
ideas do students
need to know in
order to begin to
work on the
task?

Students need to understand and be able to apply:

Sine, cosine, and tangent ratios
Sine Law
Cosine Law
The Pythagorean Theorem
Trigonometric inverse functions
Area of a non-right triangle

What
misconceptions
might students
have? What
errors might
students make?
What might be
problematic for
students? What
might you do to
address this?
What will you
hear that lets you
know students
understand the
task? How will
you engage the
students in the

The two most common misconceptions with this lesson will be

visualizing the two dimensional figures within the threedimensional ones and using the appropriate rules to find the proper
unknowns.
Common errors will most likely consist of students misinterpreting
the images and misattributing the data. The easiest way to solve
this problem will be to encourage the students to redraw the
images in a two-dimensional frame and separate them into multiple
images rather than one three-dimensional image with several twodimensional figures within it.
Students asking myself and each other probing questions about the
problems such as how to visualize the figures, whether or not they
should use certain formulas, and how much detail they give in their
responses will be an easy way to check for understanding and
involvement throughout the lesson.
The students will be engaged through teaching at the board,

3D Trigonometry Lesson Plan

Roy Herpin III

lesson?

participating in discussion, relay races, and group presentation of

their work as well as team-teaching the class (if time allows for it).

What questions
will you ask
students who are
struggling?

How does this scenario relate to what we did in either of the last
three class periods?
What similarities to you see with the last lesson?
What did we use cosine law for?
How did we find a missing side when we didnt know the angle?
Explain what you think the question is asking?
Why do you think they would give us that information to find that?
Explain why you needed to use that rule to find the answer?
Which piece of information was most crucial to finding the
solution? Why?
Relate this to a context in which you would need to find a similar
solution?
How could you have optimized your work so that you could have
solved the problem in fewer steps?

What questions
will you ask
students who are
getting it?

Learning Activities (in order)

What will the students and you do and in what order?
1. I will conduct a quick review over Sine Law, Cosine Law, and the formula for area
of a non-right triangle from the previous classes.
2. I will introduce an example of a three-dimensional problem which I will scaffold
the class through to find the solutions.
3. I will split the students into groups and randomly assign problems for them to
complete in a relay race format. Points will be awarded based on finishing time
with the correct answer.
4. After completing several problems I will allow the teams to choose a final
problem to complete. Each group will have to complete one three-dimensional
problem.
5. After completing the problems each group will have to present their problem to
the class and teach the class how to solve the problem.
Resources needed / used
What will you need to teach this unit and what will your students need to be able to
learn?
1. Calculators (at least 1 per group)
2. Paper and pencil
3. Whiteboard or blackboard with appropriate utensils
Assessment Tasks One of the best aspects of this lesson is that nearly the entire lesson
and Criteria:
consists of formative assessments. Each exercise elicits critical
thinking and responses from the students which will allow me to

3D Trigonometry Lesson Plan

Roy Herpin III

assess their understanding.

During the group discussions I will be able to assess their
understanding of the prior concepts and their ability to apply them
in three-dimensions.
The relay race is a great way to assess whole class as well as
individual understanding based on each students ability to
transition and progress through each problem.
The group work will allow me to assess which students have the
deepest understanding of the material and the teaching will give
the deepest assessment of understanding as well as helping to
address any misconceptions throughout the progression of each
problem.
Future plans:

I would like to expand the material covered in this lesson to a more

real-world context in such a way that the students could use the
material to solve a problem they may face in everyday life. Im not
certain what those problems will consist of but I think that this
material could be related to a real life context that would be
beneficial to the students. If nothing else, this type of extension
would at least spark their interest further in mathematics as well as
give them more of a reason as to why we do mathematics.

3D Trigonometry Lesson Plan

Roy Herpin III

Lesson Plan Reflection

1. What parts of the lesson were more effective? What went well in your
teaching? What evidence can you provide?
THE RELAY RACE WENT AMAZING! All of the students loved the
competition and they all had their chance to get involved.
All of the students used the support I allowed from the person ahead of
them and they asked if they were allowed to help on certain parts which
was awesome.
2. What parts of the lesson were less effective? What didnt go as well in your
teaching? What evidence can you provide?
I didnt like the downtime the students who were further in the back had
before the problem got to them.
I thought that having the person in front be a helper would make up for
this but there was still some significant down time.
Although the students all loved the relay race and participated it still took
much longer than I would have liked. They just barely finished the first
problem.
3. What aspects of the lesson did not go as planned? How did you address this?
Provide support.
They only finished the first problem.
I let them continue even if the person ahead was incorrect and I let that
go for a while but I eventually corrected them and told them if they were
wrong because they were struggling not knowing where the mistakes
were sand they began to pile up from early mistakes.
4. If you were to teach this lesson again, what would you change or do
differently? Why?
I would find a way to incorporate all of the students with less downtime
between problems.
I would start by making them have the answer correct before passing the
problem on.
5. What insights did you gain from teaching this lesson?
Races work well with math but you have to be careful because minor
error are made when working fast and it can cause confusions in
understanding and further misconceptions.