Brittany Kelly

ED 3100
October 9, 2007

Project 1
All three of my websites are focus on the same ideas, for the same age group, all from similar
websites created by the same person.
1. I have focused my websites to the high school age group. That is, about 9th-12th graders
in a high school mathematics course.
2. The subject I wish to explore is the ending of Geometry classes and where the entire
ideals of Trigonometry begin. This is a tremendously important basis of all mathematics
and that is part of why it is so important to me.
3. I will show the basics of the Sine and Cosine functions. I will start with the positive parts
of the Sine function, venture into how the positive axis is split and opposite sides of the
90° axis the ratio of the height and hypotenuse are the same. Eventually the websites go
into the Sine and Cosine functions of the complete circle, 360°, and what their graphs
look like comparing height and hypotenuse and adding the Tangent curve at the end.

Website #1
4. http://catcode.com/trig/trig02.html
5. Every single one of these websites are interactive. In this first one, the student can click
on a ball connected to a line on a unit circle going toward the origin (0,0). As the student
moves the ball around the positive 180° of the unit circle there is a line right next to the
first and second quadrants telling what degree the ball is at with respect to the unit circle.
6. If a student were having difficulties comprehending the unit circle this website would be
PERFECT to use! It shows where, on the unit circle, the degrees lie (The All Students
Take Calc method of showing where Sine, Cosine and Tangent are positive or negative),
which can be hard at first for someone to learn.
7. Although explaining Sines and Cosines on a white board with a lecture works alright,
giving a lecture and then showing the class this website would by far be the best way to
go about it. It lets them try to understand the concepts the “traditional” way, then gives
them a hands on way to explore it themselves if they didn’t understand something fully.

Website #2
4. http://catcode.com/trig/trig04.html
5. This second website compares the signs (positive or negative) of both the Sine and
Cosine functions. Comparing the height to the hypotenuse, and the base to the
hypotenuse, respectively. Both Sine and Cosine are positive in the first quadrant of the
unit circle while the Sine remains positive in the second quadrant and the Cosine
becomes negative.
6. Telling a student how the “All Students Take Calc” rule works isn’t as effective as letting
them get some physical, hands on experience. This is one of the best ways to go about
teaching a student who is just learning Trigonometry how the signs of quadrants work.
7. You could teach this on the white board, which is the usual thing to do, but in order to get
something like this to stick well in a high school students’ mind, you need to do
something that is so out of the ordinary that it will be hard to forget.
Website #3
4. http://catcode.com/trig/trig06.html
5. This website is much like all of the rest, but uses a swinging ball around the full 360°.
This shows both the Sine and the Cosine functions along with their angles and signs in all
four of the quadrants.
6. This is much like the rest of the other concepts described in these five websites. It adds
the idea that signs change when comparing the height or base to the hypotenuse.
7. This is a spectacular way to get the ideas of unit circles and signs to stick in a students’
mind. But for me, I would like to explain what is going on in my own words before
showing them. I wouldn’t want students to get dependent on looking at a website or
graph, yet it is the best way for them to visually see it and mess around with it with
accurate readings for Sine and Cosine.

Website #4
4. http://catcode.com/trig/trig08.html
5. This website shows the differences between Sine waves and Cosine waves. It is a strip
chart that follows the height of the hypotenuse, showing that no matter what degree on
the unit circle the ball falls, it will only fall between 1 and -1 for an amplitude.
6. The concept that the amplitude lies between 1 to -1 is one of the hardest concepts for new
students. This is quite possibly the BEST way of all of the ways that I have seen to show
the idea of Sines and Cosines yet.
7. This is the best way to show this concept. However, I would still like the challenge of
explaining it in a lecture before letting them “loose” with this website.

Website #5
4. http://catcode.com/trig/trig12.html
5. Although the rest of the other websites I described covered Sine and Cosine, this one
goes over the same ideas, but with Tangents. It shows the degrees of the ball circling the
unit circle as well as the comparisons of the height over the base. There is also the strip
chart showing the amplitude of the Tangent “curve.”
6. This website is probably a good idea if you were to use the first four websites to explain
the Sine and Cosine concepts and to reaffirm the idea of the Tangent. Tangent is the
hardest of the three to understand I believe because on the strip chart it doesn’t make
symmetric waves, but instead lines that curve around the x-axis and continue into both
positive and negative infinity amplitudes. Hence why I would use it over JUST a lecture.
7. A classical lecture works great for most concepts of mathematics, but having this website
as in interactive way to get students involved is even better. This is something I will use
in the classroom once I begin to teach in years down the road.