Algebra II and Trigonometry, a Dummy Comparison

polynomial and linear graphs

One of the kids (is it OK to call the college student interns "kids"?) was checking the links on an older post not long ago and came across a post that seemed to be fairly anodyne. Someone, somewhere, apparently wanted to know the "Difference Between Algebra II & Trigonometry"; eHow.com scraped up the search-engine query, and contributor Colleen Bagdon took on the assignment. The staffer who found this pointed out that Colleen's problem might have been an unfamiliarity with math due to a journalism/marketing/business education...

As befits a journalism grad (mad research skillz!), Bagdon googled the syllabi of Algebra II and Trig courses and dumped out a synopsis of their contents. That's why she has sections labeled "Algebra II Coursework" and "Trigonometry Coursework." Also as befits a liberal arts major who had little or no idea what she was transcribing, Colleen managed to explain to us that,

"Algebra II emphasizes solving linear equations and inequalities. Coursework covers polynomial, inverse, exponential, logarithmic, quadratic and rational functions."

Ummm, no, Colleen, that list of functions? Except for first-order polynomials, they're not linear! And then there's,

"Trigonometry focuses on sides and angles. Major terms include sine, cosine and tangent, right angle, right triangle, slope, arc and radiant [sic]. Trigonometry courses cover the Pythagorean theorem, angle measurement; the relationship between sines, chords, cosines and right triangles; radiants [sic] and arc length, angles of elevation and depression, determining tangents and slopes, the trigonometry or right triangles and oblique triangles, the law of sines and cosines and figuring the area of a triangle."

That's what you get from transcribing a list of topics that includes "radians" but not knowing what the word means. But wait: there's more: "Unlike Algebra II which is used primarily in probability and statistics, Trigonometry finds use in the sciences." Other than its mention in some of the syllabi Bagdon cribbed, we have no idea where she came up with the bizarre notion that Algebra II is "used primarily in probability and statistics" or, for that matter that it isn't used "in the sciences."

We find it instructive that one of Colleen's references is supposedly something she called "Math for Morrons [sic] like Us." Yup, Bagdon appears to be a "morron" or, as we like to call them, a Dumbass of the Day.

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