Lesson Plan: Equation of a Sphere Mathematics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to find the equation of a sphere given its center and how to find the center and the radius given the sphere’s equation.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- find the equation of a sphere given its center and radius or sufficient information to calculate the center and radius (e.g., the coordinates of the endpoints of the diameter),
- find the center and radius of a sphere given its equation.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- how to complete the square,
- the three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system,
- how to find the distance between two points in space,
- how to find the coordinates of a midpoint of a line segment.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the vector form of the equation of a sphere.
