Spring break brought out the creative juices. I spent time reworking guided notes sheets from last year into Vizual Notes this year. I like how they turned out. The Tangent Ratio Sine and Cosine Ratios I love it when I can start the class with a real world problem and help them arrive at a [...]
Translations As an informal assessment, I gave my students a Halloween Transformations worksheet to a) keep them off their phones after they finished their chapter tests and b) see how much they remember about or can do regarding transformations with minimal instruction. Most completed the assignment with no issues. Translations Vizual Notes can help students [...]
When starting a new unit on circles, I'm cognizant of how important learning the vocabulary is. Most geometry students are only familiar with the center, radius and diameter of a circle. Following a trigonometry unit, the word tangent takes on a new meaning. The following notes sheets and study guides should help address this. Lines & Segments that [...]
Use Geogebra to determine if triangles are similar when they have two pairs of congruent angles. The exploration sheet and this Geogebra applet will start you on your way. The investigation sheet is available for download. AA Similarity Exploration
Sometimes the hardest part of Geometry is the foreign language in which it is delivered. Angles can be acute, obtuse, right, straight, complimentary, supplementary, adjacent, vertical, congruent, and can have common sides with one another or non-common sides. Add terms like opposite rays and make a distinction between congruence and having equal measures and you [...]
Google Maps gives you a way to measure distances on a map. If you right click on the map and choose Measure Distance, the first point you click becomes the starting point. When you click a second point, Google Maps provides a scale with the distance between the points shown in a box. This scale can [...]
Terminology and Symbols The concepts of points, lines, planes, line segments, and rays are crucial for creating a great foundation on which to understand Geometry. The symbolism is particularly important. Geometry starts with three undefined terms - words with no formal definition but with a common agreement of what they are. A Point is a place [...]
Build Your Own Kite.pdf contains a printable version of the graphic above for classroom use. How High is that Kite? can help start a discussion on flying kites. Similar Kites asks students to find the measurements for a smaller and a larger kite. In the video and photo from How High is that Kite? the kite's string was completely [...]
Materials: Compass, ruler, paper, string, Geometer’s Sketchpad. Activity 1: Open your compass approximately 2 inches and construct a circle. Without changing the opening of your compass, mark off equal lengths around the outside of the circle. Draw segments between consecutive marks on the circle. What type of figure have you constructed? _____________________ Do the last [...]
