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Category: Geometry

Common Core State Standards in Mathematics – Geometry

Common Core State Standards in Mathematics – Geometry

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Why give students the definitions? Why not give them enough information so that they can create the definitions on their own? The Common Core state Standards in Mathematics along with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards emphasize allowing students to be actively involved in creating their learning. Through this, they will learn to: -reason abstractly and quantitatively -construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others -attend to precision -look for and make use of structure Besides, the…

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The Artistic Side of Math – Tessellations

The Artistic Side of Math – Tessellations

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I love M.C. Escher! I have a whole book on his work and love to share it with my students when we’re studying angle measurement. That’s because we’re going to tie math and art together through modifying polygons similar to how M.C. Escher did it in some of his paintings. It’s all about tessellating shapes and angles. Using pattern blocks, I show students how shapes tessellate. See photo below. Then, I have students determine the angle measurement of each of…

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Math Around Us: Parallel Lines

Math Around Us: Parallel Lines

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One of the best ways to teach students geometry vocabulary is to simply look around our environment. For example, if you want students to understand parallel lines, pair them up and hand them an individual white board and take a stroll around the school. Have them write down all the parallel lines they see. Here are two examples of parallel lines in our environment. Check out all the parallel lines in the door, the windows, the bookshelf, even the light…

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The Artistic Side of Math – 180-degree Rotational Symmetry

The Artistic Side of Math – 180-degree Rotational Symmetry

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Crossword puzzles are symmetrical?! That’s usually the response I get after students have been given a chance to look through blank crossword puzzles I’ve cut from the paper. Then I show them how all crosswords are designed with 180-degree rotational symmetry. Starting with 90-degree rotational symmetry, we rotate an object 1/4 the way around the circle. See photo below. Then we rotate an additional 90 degrees so that we end up with a turn of 180-degrees. (We’ve done work in…

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