Ohio Resource Center
[blank]
Assessments
Here Comes the Sun
Discipline
Mathematics
Grades
10, 11, 12
Share This Resource
Add To ORC Collection Share via Email Share on Facebook Tweet This Resource Pin it!
Go To Resource >>
Professional Commentary

Students find data on sunrise and sunset times for some locale over the course of a year, then graph the length of the day as a function of the day of the year. They are asked to find a trigonometric function that models the data and to comment on such characteristics as amplitude and period. Data from locales at other latitudes are also investigated. In the solution section, the graphs of the sine waves generated through these experiments are analyzed in detail. This problem is an open-ended assessment task from the Balanced Assessment in Mathematics Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. (author/th)


Ohio Mathematics Academic Content Standards (2001)
Patterns, Functions and Algebra Standard
Benchmarks (11–12)
A.
Analyze functions by investigating rates of change, intercepts, zeros, asymptotes, and local and global behavior.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11)
4.
Identify the maximum and minimum points of polynomial, rational and trigonometric functions graphically and with technology.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 12)
3.
Describe and compare the characteristics of transcendental and periodic functions; e.g., general shape, number of roots, domain and range, asymptotic behavior, extrema, local and global behavior.
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
Algebra Standard
Understand patterns, relations, and functions
Expectations (9–12)
understand and compare the properties of classes of functions, including exponential, polynomial, rational, logarithmic, and periodic functions;