Geogebra is a mathematical software that can be accessed online or downloaded for free. This software can be used in math classrooms at any grade level. It offers a variety of applications for Algebra and Geometry. Below is an activity that I have created that allows the students to use technology and mathematics software to model and discover an important property of circles.
The Problem
Suppose you want to see a concert in a circular amphitheater. You can purchase a ticket for any of the three seats denoted by the black dots on the picture to the right. Before you purchase your ticket, you think about which seat will have a better viewing angle of the stage. Which seat would you choose?
The students are given a worksheet that will lead them through the steps of modeling the problem on Geogebra. They will create an interactive model of the viewing angles of the stage from each of the three seats. They have the ability to move the seats to different places on the circle and make some important discoveries about angles in a circle that share the same endpoints.