BASIC Trigonometric Equations - Partner Activity "Make Compound Words"

This activity practices solving basic trigonometric equations. Students must find their primary solutions in the specific interval (0 ; 2π] and give answers in radian form. The process of solving involves only the use of the reciprocal identities and algebraic manipulation (such as collecting like terms) to isolate the trigonometric function on one side of the equation.

Partners will each have their own set of fourteen equations. All the equations are well thought so the solutions of each equation on the specified interval are only two. The amusing part of this activity is creating compound words corresponding to each solution set of the trigonometric equations given. Partner A’ s equations are equivalent to partner B’ s equations, so the compound words made by one partner will be the same as the words made by the other partner. Thus, partners will be satisfied to know that they both have worked correctly and will be encouraged to collaborate.

Activity Directions: Partners start solving individually their own problems. Once they have found the solution set of each equation, they are given two tables to use. There is a word corresponding to each radian written in table 1 . Using this table, students find which two words correspond to each solution set of their equations and make compound words. They record the solution set of each trigonometric equation and write down the compound word corresponding to it in table 2 .

Students show detailed solutions on student recording sheets specially designed for this activity or they can solve the problems on a separate sheet of notebook paper.

All answer keys are included.