Trigonometry

Trigonometry is the last required mathematics course at Coram Deo Academy and presents the culmination of the student’s previous knowledge of Algebra and Geometry.  The course is taught in the context of the historical development of Trigonometric applications with a focus on the 18^th century and the age of colonial exploration.  This is also the context of the development of Science, Math and Geometry and other classic and absolute truths about our created universe.

While the course stands independently, the historical context blends well with the 11^th grade curriculum at CDA.  Thus students are aided by having completed or being simultaneously enrolled in a high school credit course in Biology and Chemistry.

The majority of time is spent learning the relationships which follow from the sine, cosine and tangent functions and their inverses.  From these simple relations, extrapolations can be made to higher observations like the Law of Cosines and the Law of Sines.  Students are provided a historical narrative “Longitude” that accompanies the course to see the practical aid in navigation and master of the seas which were credited to those with a solid understanding of Trigonometry and Astronomy.

The course uses a college text and divides that text into two parts (Advanced Algebra was the first and this being the second) and as such allows a thorough treatment of each lesson although some lessons will go into more detail than necessary for even an advanced high school course. 

Coram Deo Academy students will read, discuss, practice, and solve problems in Trigonometry to meet the objectives specified below.  The teacher will endeavor to show the students how Trigonometry is applicable in the real world.  World-view perspectives will be introduced in order to encourage students to see the relevancy of the curriculum and the importance of the concepts to the understanding and development of their faith.

A fundamental philosophical underpinning of Trigonometry is in the realm of mathematical application.  Students should note that the necessity of navigation and exploration drove the development of calculation techniques measurement.