In order to keep them from crawling up the walls in their last week before summer vacation, I’ve given my seventh graders a tessellation project. There are about ten million youtube videos explaining how to do this, so I won’t
Tessellation Tip
Area of Mixed Polygons
In 7th grade math, we’re working on area. Â We’ve gone through all of the basic formulas with careful attention to how they are related to one another — the triangle being half of a rectangle, the trapezoid being a combination
Pythagorean Theorem Follow-Up
Activity for the big kids today: Without using a ruler, determine whether this triangle is equilateral, isosceles, or scalene. Prove it.
Geometry Across the Curriculum
I use geometric drawing across the curriculum in several projects. Below is an in-progress shot of an 8th-grader’s design for a stained glass window, an assignment from my medieval history unit that incorporates symbolism along with geometric design. In world
Construct a Hexagon
The construction for a regular hexagon is a favorite of my students every year and the one most of them choose as a basis for their geometric design project. We are simply going to begin with a line and use
Bisect an Angle
Today we’ll be bisecting an angle, i.e. cutting an angle in half without using a protractor to measure. Â Begin with any angle and draw an arc from the vertex (V) such that your arc crosses both rays of the angle.
Bisect a Segment
Today we’ll be doing a very simple construction — bisecting a segment. Â In other words, we will be cutting a line segment in half. Â Begin by drawing matching circles from your two endpoints (A and B). Â The radius of the
Identify Geometric Shapes
Here’s a little activity to wrap up our geometry study for the week. Â Have your students consider the following drawing and try to identify as many polygons as they can. Â If they need a little guidance, here are some possibilities…
Copy Any Polygon
We can employ the two skills we’ve been working on this week — constructing congruent segments and constructing congruent angles — to create a copy of any polygon. Use a straight edge to draw any polygon. Â Here’s an irregular hexagon
Construct Congruent Angles
Today we’ll be looking at another basic construction: congruent angles. Â You can use this construction to copy any angle without using a protractor to measure. Begin with the angle you would like to copy. Draw any ray. Â This will act