Trigonometry and the Astrolabe

LESSON ABSTRACT This lesson is an attempt to introduce/teach basic concepts in trigonometry using hands-on activities with historical scientific significance. Specifically, the astrolabe is used to provide students with the opportunity to explore the Soh-Cah-Toa model. The shadow square of the astrolabe will also be used to examine right angle trigonometry concepts. This contextualization should provide students ample hands-on and minds-on learning opportunities. Students will learn by working with the astrolabe. It is strongly recommended that you pre-assemble the astrolabes for your students use, or at least a large portion of the astrolabe. The included templates are easy to assemble, but can be time consuming. This is, of course, your choice.

LESSON INTRODUCTION (a brief history of the astrolabe) We are going to begin our exploration of trigonometry, specifically right triangle trigonometry, by using a scientific instrument from the pastthe astrolabe. You are probably familiar with modern variations on the astrolabe that allow us to measure the angle of elevation of a target object. What do I mean when I say angle of elevation? The astrolabe as we know it arose around the late 4th century. It spread to the Iraq/Persia area before the 10th century. What is now Pakistan was a major production point for the astrolabe. By the 10th century, it spread to North Africa and Muslim Spain, then later to Christian Europe. It was seen as a teaching, calculating and observing instrument. Around the 16th century, the astrolabe became a symbol of wealththey were very extravagant and well- made. During the 16th century, however, a man name Georg Cartman developed a paper do- it- yourself astrolabe, so that more than the aristocrats would have access to it. Needless to say, it was quite the valued instrument. Geoffrey Chaucer (Canterbury Tales) gave one to his son as a gift as he left for his education at Oxford (1391). It could be used to determine the angles between stars, for mapmaking and charting, to tell time, and, as we will use it, to simplify trigonometric calculations. It was even used during warfare to determine the distance of an enemy, as well as whether they were advancing or retreating. It could also be used to predict the rise and set of the sun. Fortunately for us, the trigonometric scales from the Islamic astrolabes greatly simplified trig calculations!

An excellent resource for information on astrolabes, as well as a computer-based electronic astrolabe, is http://astrolabes.org. In addition, http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/tops/astl- hist.html is also an excellent source. The factual and operational info rmation found in this lesson plan is from Sara Schechner.

M. Giromini, 2003 University of Michigan

A TRIG LESSON WITH THE ASTROLABE (Day One) This lesson is designed to follow, at your discretion, the introduction of the Soh-Cah-Toa model of teaching trigonometry. The astrolabe will be used for a hands-on activity. The primary use of the astrolabe in a trigonometry context is as a tool to measure angle of elevation. With this information, and the length of one of the sides of the triangle, students should be able to solve the entire tria ngle, allowing them to solve height and distance problems. The adilade is the piece of the astrolabe that measures elevation. The top of the object that students wish to measure should line up in the sights of the astrolabe. This will result in the angle of elevation being marked by the adilade on the outside scale. This, of course, is only effective if the objects height is much greater than the studentsgive the students the opportunity to discuss why this is true! I cannot give you problems for the students to complete, as the geographical conditions of your classroom/surrounding area are unique. Have them measure the height of the building, the flagpole, a tree in a courtyard. They could measure the distance to a car under a light post in the parking lot. You can gather real data for these measurements, and challenge students to see how close they can get to the correct result. A side note: the astrolabe was not extremely accurate, for obvious reasons. The percent error between students measurements and the actual answers can spur a conversation about the astrolabes accuracy and effectiveness.

A TRIG LESSON WITH THE ASTROLABE (Day Two) Some of your more observant students might have noticed the rectangle below the adilade with markings umbra versa and umbra recta. This box is called the shadow square, and can be used to speed up trig calculations. Here are instructions for using the shadow square: The shadow square can be used to measure the height of an object if you know your distance from it, or measure the distance from an object if you know its height. If you know the distance from the object, And sighting the top of the object with the adilade marks a 9 on the umbra versa of the shadow square, then the height of the object is 9/12 times your distance from it. Similarly, if a 3 were marked on the umbra recta of the shadow square, the height of the object is 12/3 times the distance. If you know the height of the object, And sighting the top of the object with the adilade marks a 6 on the umbra recta of the shadow square, then the distance to the object is 12/6 times its height.

M. Giromini, 2003 University of Michigan

This piece of the astrolabe/trig lesson can be used to emphasize a very important point in science, math and technology. It is like the measure twice, cut once adage of the master carpenter. Students can test the reliability/validity of their measurements by returning to the tall objects from the previous lesson (or for the first time, if this is used in isolation). Students can measure the height of the school from multiple distances, and see what kinds of results they get. Also, students can measure their distance from a flagpole in multiple trials at different distances, using a known height of the flagpole. These are, of course, only suggestions, and I encourage you to use your creativity to develop ideas appropriate to your classroom and environment. The distinction between accuracy and precision would also work well within this lesson, especially if this lesson is used in a science classroom.

M. Giromini, 2003 University of Michigan