Right Triangle Trig

Today we were going over - again - the concept of opposite and adjacent. (I always always say "next to" after I say "adjacent")

Correct me if I err - aren't those two concepts - opposite and next to - kindergarten concepts?

Anyhow, we are doing SohCahToa. And I am answering the question (repeatedly) of "how do we know which one to use?"

And I draw a triangle on the board. Right triangle. One angle is 36 degrees. The side opposite is x. The side adjacent is 4. (so x is 2.9)

Student says "the answer is 9." How do you get that? 36 divided by 4............

My 11th graders cannot graph slope intercept form or intercept form.

My 10th graders cannot do simple algebra - isolating x

Some get it - some divide degrees by inches.