Bearings are a real-life application of the work students have completed using angles as a measure of turn. However not all learners will have experience of bearings prior to commencing Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics.
Learners need to be confident and fluent with the angle facts they have learnt, such as angles on a straight line and angle facts related to parallel lines and the first lesson of this unit begins by checking learners’ understanding of angle facts and giving them the opportunity to practice solving problems using these angle facts.
This unit will demonstrate the importance of bearings in real-life and learners will gain an appreciation of why, in order to avoid mistakes and misunderstandings, it is important that all bearings are given as three figures which are always taken from a fixed direction, i.e. North,
In the next two lessons learners secure the link between their understanding of angle as a measure of turn and its specific application when using bearings.
Confidence in bearings is sometimes required when learners apply their conceptual understanding of other topics to solve multi-step problems involving bearings and extended learners will use bearings to solve more complex problems requiring the use of sine and cosine rules.
This unit of work is just one of several approaches that you could take when teaching this topic, and you should aim to adapt the resources to match the ability level of your learners, as well as your school context.