Clinometer

In preparation for the pumpkin drop we are going to build a clinometer and measure the height of the middle school.  We plan to drop the pumpkins out of a third floor window so the students will need to know how high up the window is in order to find out how fast the pumpkin fell.  Here is the template I used for the clinometer.
There is a few things to remember when trying to use the clinometer to find the height of a building.

1. The building and the ground have to be perpendicular.
2. You must measure the distance between where you stand and the base of the building
3. You must add the distance between your eyes and the ground to your final answer for the height of the building.

Here is a picture to help

The final step to finding the height of the building requires an understanding of the tangent function on your calculator.  Tangent of the Angle of Elevation equals the height of the building divided by the distance between you and the base of the building
In other words, according to the picture,

• Tan(angle)=BC/ AC

so to find just BC, the height of the building, you should multiply Tan(angle) and AC and then add your height (AE)
There is no start up for today.
NOTE: your student can clean out the notebook and their startups completely if they recieved a grade for their work yesterday.  I'll never ask for those papers again.