After years of seeing other teachers share pictures of the unit circle projects their students created, I decided to finally take the plunge. I assigned my trig students the task of creating a visual representation (2d or 3d) of the unit circle in lieu of a semester test in trigonometry.
A nice side effect of this projects is that now I have a lot more student work decorating my classroom! I teach mostly Algebra 1, so it’s been fun to see these students notice the projects and start to ask questions about what a unit circle is!
Looking through the projects, the biggest problem my students are having is wanting to space all of the angles evenly. Though, the fact that they most likely don’t have protractors at home is probably the main culprit!
Here’s what they came up with! (Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see how one student combined his passions for welding and trigonometry!)
Unit Circle Flower



Unit Circle Clock


Phases of the Unit Circle

(You’ll have to excuse the fact that my feet ended up in the shot. Oops… At least I was wearing cute shoes.)



The Unit Dollar

Yes, it does say “In the mullet we trust.”
Unit Circle Alien



Unit Circle Pi-cycle

Unit Circle Ferris Wheel


Unit Circle Saw Blade
This is the unit circle project that has generated the most conversation amongst my students from other classes.


More Activities and Resources for Teaching the Unit Circle
- 7 Engaging Unit Circle Activities
- Fill in the Blank Unit Circle Chart
- Unit Circle Bingo Game
- Deriving the Unit Circle Foldable
- Unit Circle Magnets
- Unit Circle Projects
- Exact Values of Trig Functions Leap Frog Game
- Unit Circle Paper Plate Activity
- Finding Trig Ratios Using the Unit Circle Notes
- Trig Ratios in the First Quadrant Chart
- Unit Circle Interactive Notebook Page
Stephanie
Thursday 18th of February 2021
Do you have the instructions you gave the students available for us to see?
Sarah Carter
Friday 19th of February 2021
I just checked my school files for that year, and I unfortunately cannot find the instructions I handed out. Sorry!
Anonymous
Monday 24th of February 2020
Have you posted the rubric/directions for this project?
Nancy in Indiana
Monday 19th of December 2016
Very cool!
Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)
Wednesday 19th of April 2017
My students continually impress me with their creativity!
Unknown
Monday 19th of December 2016
I would love to see them too. I would like to do this after winter break as we co e back for a week left. Did you give them any in class time to work on this? If so, what did the student who welded his project do? Thank you for all you share!!!
Liz K
Sunday 18th of December 2016
I would love the directions also ... I am teaching Pre-Calculus next year and would like to incorporate this project