Ferris Wheels

When it comes to trigonometry, the one type of question that students always seemed to be ask, is to give the equation of the rotation of a Ferris wheel. However given this type of question, it can sometimes be difficult for students to visualize how rotating in a circular path relates to a sinusoidal wave.


This is where seeing the presentation by Reza in class was very helpful. He showed us a Geogebra app of this exact problem type. Considering how often these questions are asked I think it's a very good idea to use the app to demonstrate to students how the rotation of the Ferris wheel corresponds to a sinusoidal graph. Having seen the app students will be able to more easily grasp how each part of the Ferris wheel, such as it's height or radius, relate to the graph that is created. Through this students can more easily understand a concept that without a visual may be more difficult to understand.

As a whole I think this reiterates the usefulness of technology within the classroom. While technology doesn't need to be used all the time for everything, in simple ways like the above it helps students to gain a better understanding of a concept that otherwise may have taken more time to go through. Finding ways like this to use technology to enhance students understanding of concepts is the key to using tech in a smart and efficient way.