As the students enter the room, the Lighthouse Problem is on the board and I hand out a paper copy to the students. I ask the students to set up the problem. They are familiar with angle of elevation and depression, but their work may come to a screeching halt when it comes to actually finding the angle. After giving students a minute or two to think about it, I plan to introduce the inverse trig functions on the graphing calculator, and then allow them to finish this problem, as well as the other problems included at the end of the lighthouse problem. This type of opening often motivates my students to pay attention for the rest of the lesson. Caution: New Skills Ahead!
To begin this segment of the lesson I hand out the Finding Angle Measures problem set. It includes 3 types of problems:
I also provide Answers to Finding Angle Measures that can be handed out to the students or posted somewhere in the room, so that they can check their work periodically. Students work in their groups, and I walk around the room providing support questions where needed.
To bring this lesson to closure, I hand out a slip of paper (Reflection) to the students on which I ask them to reflect upon:
How is trig going for you? Is there anything on which you are struggling?
What do you find easy? What do you find hard?