One or Negative One Trig Identities Worksheet
I really like the simplicity of this One or Negative One? Trig Identities Task that I found in the 8th Edition of Demana and Waits’ Pre-Calculus Textbook (Section 5.1). That’s why I decided to turn it into a worksheet!
Trig identities are one of my favorite topics to teach in Pre-Calculus. To me, they are a puzzle, and I try to present them to students as a puzzle.
In this activity, students are given five trigonometric expressions. Using trig identities, each expression can be simplified to either 1 or -1. Often when I teach students to simplify trigonometric expressions, they struggle to know when the expression is simplified “enough.” I like this activity since they have a target to aim for (1 or -1), but I haven’t told them the exact target like I do when we prove trig identities.
I did have a few students who just wanted to randomly write down 1 or -1 for each problem… They were a bit annoyed when I told them they had to justify their answers!
You might also be interested in my Verifying Trig Identities Worksheet and Trig Identities Matching Activity.
Free Download of One or Negative One Trig Identities Worksheet
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One or Negative One Trig Identities Task (PDF)
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One or Negative One Trig Identities Task (WORD)
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Activity Solutions
Activity and worksheet solutions are available on a password-protected solution page. I do not openly post the answer keys because one of my goals as a resource creator is to craft learning experiences for students that are non-google-able. I want teachers to be able to use these activities and resources in their classrooms without the solutions being found easily on the Internet.
Please email me at sarah@mathequalslove.net for the password to the answer key database featuring all of my printable puzzles and math worksheets. I frequently have students emailing me for the answer key, so please specify in your email what school you teach at and what subjects you teach. If you do not provide these details, I will not be able to send you the password.
