The Cell Tower Problem

Moving forward in my Math 3 (formerly known as Algebra 2) class, we are beginning equations of circles. Now, I always try to find a fun, short introduction activity to get my kiddos interested in the topic at hand - sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't... but at least I try 😎

If you are teaching upper-level or honors students (or even on-level with some time on your hands), you may want to start by having your kids read this article (good tool for a discussion) or watch this video - full disclosure, the video is a little dry, but can help with showing learners what to expect with this activity. As a matter of fact, the video answers these two questions that I ask before we begin and demonstrates how they are going to use triangulation. I'm really kicking myself for not showing it first. I mean, it's only 3 minutes long!

Once students have seen a demonstration of triangulation, they pick up some graph paper and a compass that I always have on hand. Their task is find a person with the given information. Of course they can work in pairs, but I have each student complete the activity alone; but in doing so, they are having discussions and helping each other out along the way.

If you look at some of the student work to the right, I have included a student that was confused and kept drawing her circles from the origin. This happened with several of the kiddos. No big deal, I corrected them (or their neighbor helped them) and we moved forward. I take pride in the fact that students feel safe enough in my classroom that they can make mistakes and learn from them - not be embarrassed by the mistake.

I hope this mini-lesson is a great and valuable activity in your class as an effort to get students interested in circles and triangulation. If nothing else, at least they'll all be engaged!

~SSB

Comments

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