Plant the fruits of trigonometry. Pairs work through the process of finding the best place to plant fruit trees on a piece of property. The scholars must take into consideration the location of the property and the solar zenith angle. To ensure success, they calculate the best location so shadows do not interfere with the growth of the trees and surrounding gardens.

Concepts

trigonometric, trigonometric ratios, trigonometric word problems, trigonometry applications, sunlight, the sun, latitude and longitude

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Lead a discussion on how to use the sun's rays to find angle measurements

Classroom Considerations

• Assumes the class is able to solve right triangles with trigonometry
• Requires that pupils access the Internet to find information

Pros

• Provides a link to a video to help with the understanding of the relationship between the length of a shadow and the location of the sun
• Includes a sample solution

Cons

• None

Common Core

MP1 MP5 HSG-SRT.C.8