Honors Precalculus: Course Expectations 2011-12

• Evaluating trigonometric ratios for angles in radian measure; review of special right
triangles
• Finding lengths of arcs and areas of sectors
Part II: Sketching Trigonometric Functions
• Sketching the six trigonometric functions
• Identifying amplitude, period, phase shift, frequency, and vertical shift for sinusoidal graphs
• Modeling real-life situations involving sinusoidal functions
Part III: Trigonometric Identitites
• Deriving and using Pythagorean identities, reciprocal identities, and negative angle identities
• Using the sum, difference, and double angle identities
Part IV: Solving Other Triangles; using vectors (2 weeks)
• Area of triangles (using trig)
• Using the Law of Sines
• Using the Law of Cosines
Unit 3: Conic, Parametric, Polar, and Vector Functions
Part I: Conic Sections
• Equations of circles (center and radius)
• Converting into standard form
• Drawing and writing equations for ellipses
• Drawing and writing equations for hyperbolas
• Parabolas as conic sections
• Systems of conic sections
Part II: Vectors
• Graphing vectors
• Adding, subtracting, and scalar multiplication of vectors
• Representing vectors in polar and trigonometric forms
Part III: Polar Equations and Graphs
• Polar equations and their graphs
• Polar equations of conic sections (circles, ellipses, and hyperbolas)
Part IV: Parametric Equations and Graphs (1 week)
• Graphs of parametric equations
Unit 4: Sequences and Series
• Sequences and summation notation
• Arithmetic and geometric sequences
• Limits of sequences
• Introduction to series and limits of series