BeginnerÕs Trigonometry
In 6 Lessons
By Rebecca Adcock
You thought you were
doing a good job surviving Algebra and Geometry and now youÕre signed up to
study ŌTrigonometryĶ. So what is it? You probably noticed in Geometry class
that you spent more time studying triangles and circles than any other figure.
And probably more time on triangles than on circles. Trigonometry is a branch
of mathematics, related to geometry, that studies the relationships between the
sides of triangles and their angles. Three of these relationships are the sine,
cosine and tangent functions. Before we can study these relationships, we need
to review the Pythagorean Theorem and briefly study special right triangles.
ThatÕs what Lessons 1 and 2 are all about. Then the fun stuff starts in Lesson
3. IÕm serious! Trig is really neat. Find out for yourselfÉ
In case you were
wondering (and IÕm sure you were) the word trigonometry comes from the Greek words trigonon meaning triangle and metron meaning measure. It was originally used to answer
questions in geography and astronomy.
Work through each
lesson at your own pace. After completing a lesson , go to Lesson
Assessments and test yourself.
Answers are found in TeacherÕs Resource. But donÕt look until youÕve worked through the assessments!
Main Menu
Lesson #6: Sine and
Cosine Graphs
Lesson Assessments
TeacherÕs Resource