# Friday, June 16

*Oops* had this in drafts all weekend. Here is an update on last week's classes.

In class: The last three days we have had about half the class gone on the Ashland field trip. On Wednesday we investigated the properties of s-curves and paper clips [see here]. On Thursday we played grudge ball and battled over questions like

What is the sum of the mean, median, and mode of the numbers 2, 3, 0 , 3, 1, 4, 0, 3? [answer: 7.5]

Everyday at school, Jo climbs a flight of stairs. Jo can take the stairs , , or at a time. For example, Jo could climb , then , then . In how many ways can Jo climb the stairs?  [can you figure out the answer? it is less than 30…]

# Thursday, June 8 + Facial Tissue Request 😤

It would be a great help if you can send any donations of facial tissue! Many students have runny noses this time of the year and our previous classroom stockpile of facial tissue has run out completely. If you can send a box to school with your student that would be a great help! Thank you!

Upcoming: Trigonometry Test on Tuesday, June 13th.

In class: Problem solving with trigonometry. In order to be Highly Proficient in trigonometry students need to be able to solve a variety of problems involving right and non-right triangles. They should be able to write and solve equations involving \$sin, cos\$ and \$tan\$ as well as their inverses, recognize how to construct right triangles and use them to find missing measurements in non-right triangles. Recognize and explain how S-S-A information about a triangle may be ambiguous and measure both cases. Also, HP students will understand and be able to prove the Law of Sines and Cosines for acute triangles.

Assignment: For Monday students should complete

Problem Set #1 ("June 7")

Problem Set #2 ("Trigonometry p-set #6")

Notes: I made a trig review worksheet (here)

# Thursday, May 25

Assignment: 12.2 on p. 628: 1-16, 21

# Wednesday, May 24

Students took the Similarity test (chapter 11) on Friday. This week we have learned the right-triangle definition of the trigonometric functions sine, cosine and tangent. As of now these functions take as input one of the non-right angles in a right triangle and their output is a specific ratio of sides in all such similar right triangles.

So, based on this definition, if $\dpi{300}\inline \sin(35^\circ) \approx .57$ that means that in any right triangle with a $\dpi{300}\inline 35^\circ$ angle, the ratio of $\dpi{300}\inline \dfrac{\text{opposite side}}{\text{adjacent side}}$ is approximately .57. In the figure below this means that $\dpi{300}\inline \dfrac{AC}{BC} \approx .57$.

Assignments

Monday: No HW

Tuesday: 12.1 on p. 620-624: 4-9, 14-22, 27

Wednesday

1. "Understanding sine/cosine/tangent and their inverses" w/s

2. (3rd Period) 12.1 worksheet

2. (5th Period) 12.2 worksheet

# Thursday, May 18

In class we spent time reviewing for tomorrow’s Similarity (Ch. 11) Test.

Assignment: Chapter 11 Review on p. 624: 1-21 (pick 12 problems) & be ready for your test tomorrow.

# Wednesday, May 17

In class problem solving to prepare for Friday’s test on Similarity (Ch. 11).

Assignment: Challenge Problems + 11.5/11.6 PYS worksheet.

# Tuesday, May 16

In class: I checked 11.3 and 11.4 homework, we completed a proof relating to parallel lines and proportional lengths

Assignment: 11.6 on p. 607: 1-21 odds

# Monday, May 15

In class topic: ratios between similar figures. If $\dpi{300}\inline a$ and $\dpi{300}\inline b$ are the lengths of two corresponding dimensions between two similar figures, then we can say that all corresponding side lengths will be in the ratio

$\dpi{300}\inline \dfrac{a}{b}$

Their area or surface area ratios will be

$\dpi{300}\inline \left(\dfrac{a}{b}\right)^2 = \dfrac{a^2}{b^2}$

Their volumes will be in the ratio

$\dpi{300}\inline \left(\dfrac{a}{b}\right)^3 = \dfrac{a^3}{b^3}$

Assignment: 11.5 on p. 595: 1-6, 10-17

# , Tuesday, May 9

In class: we worked through and discussed a practice SBAC test. Tomorrow students will be completing the Performance Task.

All 8th grade students are to bring their chromebook to class charged and ready for testing. No cell phones or internet device use allowed during testing sessions even if you are done.

Assignment: AGS students should be working to complete their Module 7 assessment which is still due at the start of class on Friday. So, at this point anything they have not completed should be completed at home. I would recommend completing problems 1 – 4 by tomorrow. And then completing #5 tomorrow evening.

# Friday, May 5

In class students had time to work on assignments and I floated around to different groups. I stamped all assignments that were complete at this time. There have been 4 assignments not including the assignment from today (which would not be stamped yet.

Showing steps: I know this is a battle with many students who claim that they can get the answer without showing work, and I would like to weigh in and say that I expect students to show their steps and I insist that they do it. If your student is not showing work you may find notes from me in their spiral, sometimes in VERY LARGE font and glorious marker color 🙂 That said, I think that those who either by nature or nurture have come to be accustomed to showing work have an easier time progressing through more difficult topics, learning from their practice, communicating with those around them about problems and get more value out of their past work and spiral.

Assignment: 11.4 on p. 588: Investigation 1 and 2, also complete 1-14, 16