Trigonometry First Semester Project

Biorhythms - Using Sinusoidal Curves in Everyday Life

Did you ever feel dreary and there didn’t seem to be any real reason for your sadness? Did you ever play a sport and play more successfully than you ever had before or ever will again? Did you ever wonder why some tests seem to go better than others, in spite of your study times? Some would say that it is because of your normal rhythms of life – your BIORHYTHMS.

There is a strong belief that every living creature has a biological set of clocks that regulate life. These natural rhythms are said to be sinusoidal waves that begin on the very day of birth and continue throughout one’s life. At least three types of such waves exist: intellectual, physical, and emotional. The waves share identical ranges, but differ in their periods. A population’s biorhythms vary only in phase shift, the difference emerging due to various birthdates. When your wave is high, then your abilities in that area will also be high. As the wave decreases, your abilities will wane.

Some cultures take biorhythms very seriously. The Japanese, for instance, often plan major life events around their waves and even grant days off from work when the charts are particularly bad. By the way, some believe that people have three more sine curves at work in their bodies: intuition (38 day cycle), aesthetics (43 day cycle), and spiritual (53 day cycle). We will only be looking at the first three.

Part One

Use the Internet or other sources to gather information about intellectual, physical, and emotional biorhythms. In particular, pay attention to the period of each, what each biorhythm impacts or influences, what should be avoided on bad days, and what should be pursued on good days. Also, find information about switch days and critical days as they pertain to biorhythms and synchronicity when it comes to critical days.

Write 1 paragraph about each biorhythm and 1 paragraph about switch days/critical days and synchronicity. Be sure to use your own words and cite your sources.

·  Your citations do not have to be formal…a web address is fine

·  You should list at least two sources. Your two sources MAY NOT include the two stated at the bottom of this page. You need to find two MORE than those.

·  The four paragraphs need to be typed

You may want to visit the following websites to see the biorhythm chart in action:

http://www.biorhythm-calculator.net/

http://www.tay-tec.de/biorhythm/my-biorhythm/en.html

Part Two

Work through the steps provided on the next page to calculate your age as of December 1, 2012 in days.

Part Three

Plot your three curves on the graph paper provided. Use a different color for each wave. Your knowledge of sine curves should be able to assist you with the graphs. YOU must graph them by hand. Computer generated curves from websites will NOT be accepted.

Physical Curve Emotional Curve Intellectual Curve

x = number of days old

Part Four

Analyze your graphs and answer the questions provided. Use complete sentences!

Part Five

Write a short summary of your intellectual/physical/emotional state for the month of December based on your 3 biorhythm curves. Have some fun with it! You could write it up like a horoscope for the month of December. The summary should summarize how things look for you in the month of December.

What is expected:

***This project is due NO LATER than Thursday, December 20th. You may turn it in earlier, but no late projects will be accepted. This project is an individual project based on YOUR age and is worth 90 points toward your second quarter grade. It will count as a test grade and it will also be your e-portfolio grade for the first semester. You will need to scan and upload this to your portfolio. This will count for 1% of your semester exam grade.

Rubric: Your finished product should include (in this order):

1)  4 Typed paragraphs on the three biorhythms, including citations. – 30 points

2)  Age calculation worksheet (next sheet) – 10 points

3)  Graphs – on the graph paper provided - 25 points

4)  Analysis questions (typed is optional) – 15 points

5)  Typed summary paragraph – 10 points

How Many Days Old Are You?

1)  State your birthday including the year. ______

2)  How many years old were you on your last birthday? ______

3)  Multiply your age by 365.

______x 365 = ______

4)  Now add to that value a day for each leap year during your lifetime (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012).

______+ ______= ______

5)  Count the number of days from your birthday in 2012 (or late 2011) to, and including, December 1, 2012. Add this value to your number above.

______+ ______= ______

I was (will be) ______days old on December 1, 2012

1. For the physical cycle start date, divide the number of days you have been alive by 23. You are only interested in the remainder. The value of the remainder tells you how many days ago your cycle started. Counting forward 23 days from this date will give the end of the cycle. Finding the halfway point gives the transition date. One fourth of the way gives the high point and three fourths of the way gives the low point.

Example: Let’s say you are 6224 days old. ; As of Dec. 1st, you have gone through 270 physical cycles plus 14 days. Thus, this cycle started 14 days ago on November 18th. It will end on December 9th. Halfway will occur 11 ½ days from the start, which is on November 29th. One fourth of the way will be 5 ½ days (November 23rd) and three-fourths the way will be 16 ½ days (December 5th).

Complete the table with your data.

Start / High / Mid / Low / End/Start / High / Mid / Low / End

2. For the emotional cycle follow the same process as in #1 but use 28 days, not 23.

Complete the table with your data.

Start / High / Mid / Low / End/Start / High / Mid / Low / End

3. For the intellectual cycle follow the same process as in #1 but use 33 days, not 23.

Complete the table with your data.

Start / High / Mid / Low / End/Start / High / Mid / Low / End

On the graph paper, draw your curves starting at December 1st through December 31st. Use the graph paper provided. The amplitude of your curve is unimportant, but it should be the same for all three cycles. Pick a number for your amplitude (like 8 or 10) to make it easy to describe where your curve is on a particular day.) Make it large enough to be seen, but not overly dominating. Your finished graph will look somewhat like the graph below. Make sure each line is in a different color and that a KEY is provided to tell me which line is which!

Analyzing Your Graphs

1)  Birthday. ______

2)  Number of days you have been alive on December 1, 2012. ______

3)  Give approximate heights according to your graphs. “High” and “Low” are not acceptable. Give numbers or percents from your graph.

  1. Height of the physical curve on 12/01/12. ______
  2. Height of the emotional curve on 12/01/12. ______
  3. Height of the intellectual curve on 12/01/12. ______

4)  Number of days you have been alive on December 31, 2012. ______

5)  Give approximate heights according to your graphs. “High” and “Low” are not acceptable. Give numbers or percents from your graph.

  1. Height of the physical curve on 12/31/12. ______
  2. Height of the emotional curve on 12/31/12. ______
  3. Height of the intellectual curve on 12/31/12. ______

6)  What do the numbers 23, 28, and 33 (that are in each of the curve equations) represent IN TERMS OF THE GRAPH? What special numbers are they??

7)  Which day(s) in December will you be at your physical best? If it already passed, did anything noteworthy happen?

8)  Which day(s) in December will you be at your emotional best? If it already passed, did anything noteworthy happen?

9)  Which day(s) in December will you be at your intellectual best? If it already passed, did anything noteworthy happen?

10) Which day will be the best overall for you?______

11) Which day will be the worst overall for you?______

12) Are there major switch/critical days on your chart? If they already passed, did anything noteworthy happen?