LOST TREASURE!!!

A trigonometry group project

A team of explorers find a treasure map from 1747 with these directions to the treasure:
From the tallest palm tree (P), sight the highest hill (H).
Drop your eyes vertically until you sight the base of the hill.
Turn 40 degrees clockwise from that line and walk 70 paces to the big red rock (R).
From there walk 50 paces back to the sight line between the palm tree and the hill.
Dig there (X).

The trouble is that after so long, the palm tree no longer exists. So, the team contacts you to decipher the map and give
them a plan for finding the lost treasure. Determine a plan to locate the position of the lost palm tree and write out an
explanation of your procedure for the explorers.

OK! Let’s begin. On the next page, you will find a mostly blank map to use. Do the following work on that page.

 Start at the red rock R. Draw a circle centered around R with an appropriate radius. Use the following
conversion factor to determine the radius: 10 paces = 1 centimeter, so 70 paces = ___7___cm.

 Now find the point along the circle that has 40 degrees be the angle between the lines of sights to the hill H and
the rock R. Mark this place P with a palm tree demonstrating your artistic merit.

Next you are going to use trigonometry to determine the two distances you should walk towards the hill from the palm.
On your drawing, draw a second circle around R representing 50 paces. You will notice that this circle crosses the PH
line of sight at two spots. These are the predicted locations of the treasure! Now it’s a 50/50 chance on finding the
treasure your first try! Use the laws of triangles to solve for the two distances to the treasure points. You should get
answers in the units of paces.

The first distance from the palm along the line of sight to the hill is ____95______ft. From this first spot, walk an
additional _______139______ft towards the hill to find the second spot to dig.

Move on to page 3 for detailing the plan.

1 Written by Zeph Smith, Salt Lake Community College, 2017
2 Written by Zeph Smith, Salt Lake Community College, 2017
Now, you are going to detail your plan for finding the treasure so you can tell your team on site exactly what to do. The
only equipment they have to work with is a tape measure, lots of rope, a sharp knife, shovels, and a protractor. You all
decide that a pace will be approximated by 3 feet, so make sure to convert your numbers to feet so they can accurately
measure!

- Start at the red rock

- Cut the rope to be 150 ft (50 paces)
- Cut the rope to be 210 ft (70 paces)
- Have the first person walk away from the red rock, holding one end of the 210 ft rope until it is pulled tight
- The first person will then continue walking towards the hill, keeping the rope pulled tight, until they reach the
point where they make a 40-degree angle with the line of sight of the hill and the rope. This is point “P”.
- The second person will take one end of the 150 ft rope and walk towards the first person until the rope is
pulled tight.
- The second person will walk towards the line of sight of the first person and the hill, keeping the rope pulled
tight.
- Once the second person intersects the line of sight of the first person and the hill, this point will become “T1”
- The second person will then continue walking, keeping the 150 ft rope pulled tight, until they intersect the
first person’s line of sight with the hill again. This point becomes “T2”.
- Dig at point T2 to find treasure
- If treasure is not found at T2, dig at T1.

Reflection: This portion of the project needs to be completed individually. Even if you work with a group, you will be
submitting individual copies of this project, and the reflection should be unique to you. Discuss the things you have
learned in your trigonometry class and how they may apply to the real world. Can you make the argument that
trigonometry is a useful tool? What kinds of things have you learned that can be useful in your particular career path?
Please be specific and give multiple examples to back up your statements. Your reflection needs to be typed - not hand
written - and included with your submission. Length may vary, but should be long enough to answer the questions
with meaningful responses.

Math 1060 is a Quantitative Literacy General Education course. Scan or save a copy of your finished report to upload to
your SLCC e-Portfolio so that it can be found under this category. You will NOT receive a grade for the assignment if it is
not uploaded to your e-Portfolio. Instructions for the e-Portfolio are posted on the Canvas site for this course.

Trigonometry has been an interesting course. I found that the use of sine, cosine, and tangent is much broader than I
had expected. Trigonometry is commonly used in everyday situations and careers. Trigonometry is used in something
as simple as making a turn in your car, to a carpenter cutting carpet, to an architect building a foundation of a new
home. It is amazing to see how useful this course is in our daily lives without even noticing. I know that for my specific
career of anesthesiology, I wont use as much of this course as other careers, but I am positive that I will notice the use
of trigonometry around me. I know that the machines that I will use will have been built with the use of trigonometry,
I will need to know the exact placement to put in an IV or give an epidural, and that during surgery we will use
trigonometry to make incisions and so on. I found trigonometry interesting because it really opened my eyes to how
much it is used day to day. I now can see that it was used to build the roads that I drive on, to build my house, and to
even have this program on my computer for me to complete my school work. Trigonometry is a fascinating concept
that I would recommend to others for them to learn a little more about it.

3 Written by Zeph Smith, Salt Lake Community College, 2017