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Provide access to scientific calculators.
Select students who used each strategy described in the Activity Narrative, to share later. Aim to elicit both key mathematical ideas and a variety of student responses, especially from students who haven't shared recently.
What are the exact coordinates of point if it is rotated radians counterclockwise from the point ? Explain or show your reasoning.
The goal of this discussion is to recognize that we can think of the coordinates of in different ways, including as the sine and cosine of the angle of rotation or by using what we know about an angle in Quadrant I.
Display 2–3 approaches from previously selected students for all to see.
Use Compare and Connect to help students compare, contrast, and connect the different approaches. Here are some questions for discussion:
Ask students to predict the values for and , and then use a calculator to verify them.
Conclude the discussion by telling students that cosine and sine do exist for angles greater than radians—a right angle. Specifically, the -coordinate of a point on the unit circle rotated radians counterclockwise from is , while the -coordinate is .
Provide access to scientific calculators. Arrange students in groups of 2. Ask, “Is the point on the unit circle? Be prepared to explain how you know.” (Yes, because the coordinates satisfy the equation for the unit circle, .) After some work time, select students to share their thinking. Record any equations students used to reach their conclusions, such as the equation for a circle of radius or the Pythagorean Theorem. If both of these equations were not discussed, display them now, and invite students to explain how they could use the equation to show that the point is on the unit circle.
If students ask where the coordinates with the square roots came from, let them know that they are the exact coordinates for the point at , which was approximated in an earlier lesson as for .
The goal of this discussion is for students to conclude that the value of is 1 for any angle and to reason about why this is true. Students are also introduced to the formal name for this equation as the Pythagorean Identity.
Ask, “If is an angle on the unit circle, what is the value of ?” (All points on the unit circle make the equation of the circle, , true. So since and . Or, for a point on the unit circle, we can draw a right triangle with legs of length and and a hypotenuse of length 1, so, by the Pythagorean Theorem, .)
Give partners 2–3 minutes of work time, and then pair groups together to share and refine their reasoning. Invite students to share their group’s thinking with the whole class, displaying any diagrams created. If both approaches—using the equation for the unit circle and using the Pythagorean Theorem—are not brought up, do so now.
Conclude the discussion by telling students that the equation , where is an angle on the unit circle, is known as the Pythagorean Identity (If necessary, remind students that identities are equations that are true for all values of the variable in them). In addition to determining if points are and are not on the unit circle, this identity can be used to, for example, calculate the value of the sine of an angle from the value of the cosine of the angle. Using the identity this way is the focus of the next lesson.