Kirsten in MO Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Is Trigonometry a full year course? Our local High School offers Trigonometry/Statistics as a class, so I am wondering if it only takes one semester to complete the Trig section and that is why Statistics is offered with it. I have also seen Geometry/Trigonometry listed as as a course, as if they both are completed in one year. Any thoughts? Thanks! Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Here's an earlier thread that asks a similar question: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3546&highlight=trigonometry Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 The current 'trend' is for Trig. to be paired with College Algebra and called Pre-Calculus. A good Geometry course will have some Trig. in it. A good Algebra 2 course will have some Trig. in it. Neither course usually has enough Trig. to satisfy the one-semester credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusanAR Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 So is Chalkdust Trigonometry a one year course or a semester only? It seems that it is a full year?? Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMom Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 So is Chalkdust Trigonometry a one year course or a semester only? It seems that it is a full year?? Susan I asked this question last week. It was confirmed here (as well as at the Chalkdust booth at my hs convention last weekend) that, if you are going on to Chalkdust Pre-calc, you do not need to take the seperate Trig course from them. Everything that is in their Trig course is included in their Pre-calc course. You can go to their website and compare Trig and Pre-calc side by side will see that all of the Trig is in the Pre-calc. If you just do Trig and are not going on to Pre-calc, it looks to me like the class would be 1/2 to 3/4 of a credit as it is only 6 chapters long. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten in MO Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 I really appreciate everyone's help! Kareni: Thanks for the link...I didn't think to do a search, but that was the exact question I had. Jann: Thanks for answering another of my math questions! I know you already told me to go on to pre-Cal, but my husband asked some engineers that work for his company and they all said go to Trig. after Geometry if my son is interested in the engineering field. So, now I feel confused! Why is this confusing me? Why can't all the text books just do it the same way so this is not so hard! Okay, tell me if I am getting this right. If we go with a Pre-Calculus course, there will be Trig. included in it. On his course description for the year, I just list it as Pre-Calculus? Or do I list it as Pre-Calculus/Trig.? Could I do one semester of Trig. and one semester of Statistics before Pre-Calculus, or would he be repeating the same Trig. stuff if we did it that way? My son will be a tenth grader next year, so he has three more years to get his advanced math classes in before he graduates. Is there a text you recommend? I will tell you I did not like the Geometry text recommeded with Chalkdust. My son finished the book, but I didn't like it and won't use it for my next two. Sorry this got so long, Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Back in the dinosaur times the course called 'Trigonometry' would normally follow Algebra 2 (or Geometry if taken after Algebra 2). In the current 'age' Trig is still taken at the same time--the NAME of the course has been 'modernized' and is now called Pre-Calculus. Pre-Calculus is the name for the 1 year course that contains 1 semester of Trig and 1 semester of College Algebra. Both of these courses (Trig and College Algebra) can be taken as individual 1-semester classes. Colleges will accept either College Algebra/Trig or Pre-Calculus for the same 1 year credit...90% of the time it is now listed as Pre-Calculus. Take the Lial series that I'm currently using with my girls... The College Algebra/Trigonometry text is the SAME text as the Pre-Calc text (just different covers) depending on what the college/university prefers. They sell more 'Pre-Calc' texts... Texts are page to page the same. If your son has completed Algebra 2 then he is ready to go on to Pre-Calc. The Larson text (what Chalkdust uses) is very good. DO NOT compare it to the Geometry text--Geometry texts are completely different 'animals'. (MOST students who do well in Algebra tend to dislike Geometry). Remeber that Geometry can be taken either between Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 or after Algebra 2... PS--My DH is and engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Jann--I've been looking at the Sullivan texts, and the Precalculus seems different than the Algebra and Trig books. The Sullivans have a plain Precalculus plus one with data analysis + graphing. It looks like the "data" version of Precalc. has an extra section about one of the following-- modeling, curve fitting or scatter diagrams at the end of each chapter. It adds up to a huge book--1000 pages. I had found the instructors sol. manual years ago, so was looking for the text. I think its kind of obscure, I couldn't find a new version. I was curious who would use this book, it's huge, and it must have been a huge math course! Anway, kind of interesting to compare. The regular precal has about 800 pages. I kind of like Sullivan, the texts give all the answers for the end of chap review, plus chap. tests, and then answers to the odds of the regular problems. I am going to be using it (alg. + trig) for the LSU dist. end course for College Algebra. Its quite a reasonable price and the book is older so the price was also good. I was surprised it wasn't the same as the Precal, actually. (I had found one at thrift store) Lastly- I have had several colleges tell me that statistics is not considered "math" when they are looking at transcripts. They don't mind it but they don't count it. Too bad the HS's seem to be pushing it on the kids instead of the analytic geometry that we used to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Jann, my son is starting Saxon Advanced Math. He finished Saxon Algebra II in Feb. of 9th grade, having started it in 8th grade. He got a 96 average on homework assignments (I never did the tests because I didn't have them, lame, I know) and I feel very confident that he knows the material. Now, the first page of Advanced Math says this is a 2-semester college class, 3-semesters for strong high schoolers, and 4 for average! I wasn't expecting this. Back in my day ('86 kicks!) I took 1 year of "Trig", and then took calculus in college. Does Saxon AM have stuff my high school class didn't? I had hoped he could finish this in a year and start calculus at the comm. college his junior year (he's a rising sophomore)... he'll definitely be a science/math major... any suggestions? I'm skeptical that he can do this in a year, mainly because even though he finished algebra 2 in 9th, he only did 1/2 lesson per day (120 lessons=240 days) and it still took 1.5 hrs. per day. (He is *very* thorough tho, and I'm seeing that as a good thing.) Do you like Saxon AM in general? ETA: OK, I just checked our community college and the prereq for Calc I is 1 sem. Trig and 1 sem. Pre-Calc. All this time I thought there was only the 1-sem. Trig requirement, so maybe that answers my question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I've got mixed feelings about Saxon AM. I personally think there are better programs out there for this level. Saxon AM is (how should I say this?)-- 'narrow'. Since Saxon incorporates Geometry into Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 there is one semester of Geometry (mainly proofs) in the AM text to complete this credit. The lessons in AM take MUCH LONGER to complete than those in the Algebras--if your son only completed 1/2 of a problem set before--do NOT expect him to finish AM assignments in that same time frame...It is possible for a student to complete AM in one year--but they are usually the same students who were able to complete the Algebra 2 problem sets easily in one day. There is NOTHING wrong with working slower--I'm just trying to be realistic. Pre-Calc courses can vary some in added content--just like there are several different types of Calculus 1 courses (mainly 'Business Calc' and 'Engineering Calc'). Business Calc us usually MUCH EASIER than Engineering Calc and covers (camps out on) very different material. 20 years ago it was not uncommon for a student to complete Algebra 2 and go right into Calculus--BUT the old Algebra 2 courses contained much more 'meat' than most of the current 'rigorous' Algebra 2 programs. Pre-Calc as a whole is a relatively new 'animal'. As more and more students found the need to take Calculus it became evident that many (read this as the new majority) needed to slow down a bit and they had much better success with Calculus when they took a course that bridged Algebra and Calc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Thanks so much. I appreciate all your insights since you have experience with Saxon. So, do you have suggestions for a one-year course that would prepare a math-bright student to take engineering calculus?? Am I asking for the moon here? Maybe we need to just slow down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten in MO Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Jann, Thanks for the clarification. I think I understand what you are saying. YOu obviously like the Lial's book since you are using it. I will check it out and also the Chalkdust, since you said it is better than the Geometry. My son will be pleased...he really wanted to do "Calculus", and even if there is some Trig. thrown in, he will be happy to get back to more Algebra type math. That was really his favorite! Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hswarden Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 My son is in public high school, and got a C both semesters in algebra 2. I took him to the community college to do some math this summer, thinking to help him prepare for precalculus. After the placement test put him in either trigonometry or college algebra, he piped up and asked to take trig, and the timing worked, and there was a seat, so there he is every night taking a community college trig class. I have no idea what it will look like on his transcript to have both a college trig and a high school Precalculus doen in the same year, but the good news is that every night when he comes home and I ask him about the class, he says, "It was fun!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 So, do you have suggestions for a one-year course that would prepare a math-bright student to take engineering calculus?? Am I asking for the moon here? Maybe we need to just slow down. Since your son used Saxon he has not completed his Geometry credit (unless he worked a separate program). While Geometry is not vital (Saxon Algebras have the Geometry application practice that will be on the SAT test)--it is useful in developing logical sequencing (proofs and such). If you want to list Geometry on your transcript you will need to work the 'proof' part of a course (in most cases it is the first half of the text). This can be done alongside of a Pre-Calc course. The Larson text that Chalkdust uses is highly recommended. (I like the Chalkdust program too.) If cost is a factor Lial also has a good Pre-Calc program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Ah! Thank you so much. Thanks for the geometry heads-up too. Jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 ...I've been looking at the Sullivan texts, and the Precalculus seems different than the Algebra and Trig books. The Sullivans have a plain Precalculus plus one with data analysis + graphing. It looks like the "data" version of Precalc. has an extra section about one of the following-- modeling, curve fitting or scatter diagrams at the end of each chapter. It adds up to a huge book--1000 pages. I had found the instructors sol. manual years ago, so was looking for the text. I think its kind of obscure, I couldn't find a new version. I was curious who would use this book, it's huge, and it must have been a huge math course! ... My daughter used a Sullivan text for College Algebra and Trigonometry classes at the local community college. Her text was a college specific shorter version of Sullivan's 3rd edition Pre-Calculus with graphing. Even being a shorter version, they did not complete the entire book. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.