Geometry – Insert Clever Math Pun Here

Category Archives: Geometry

Geometry Files: More Triangles? Are you serious?

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Meg Craig • 0 comment

Yes, I’m totally serious. (see more files and FAQs here)

But we already did triangles, you say. Sure, we looked at congruent triangles, but did we look at stuff that can happen inside triangles?!?! There’s a lot of good discovery activities for these rules, also here are some rudimentary geogebra files I made:

(files: medians, perpendicular bisectors, angle bisectors) then we can solidify everything:

(file here) Oh, plus there’s this weird thing about medians:

I make mine draw out and label the median for each problem; the visual seemed to help a lot of them see the relationship between what was given and what we need.

Homework:

(file here)

Then let’s put all this together!

(file here) “Boy, Meg, sure wish there was a powerpoint to go along with this!” Why, it’s your lucky day!

(file here)

Then another powerpoint for exterior/interior angle and angle/side inequalities:

(file here)

Then I guess I did more stuff with possible sides of a triangle? Then some practice:(file here) wiiiiiiiith powerpoint!

(file here)

And more inequalities!!

(file here)

ARE WE DONE WITH THESE TRIANGLES YET?!?!?!?!

Yes! Now just a review!

(file here) and powerpoint:

(file here)

Finally! There can’t be anything else we can do with triangles, right?!?! (Shh…we won’t talk about trig coming up, ok?)

Geometry Files: Triangle Congruence

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Meg Craig • 4 comments

(see more files and FAQs here). So, I’m really concerned that I’m losing my mind, or at least at lot of my Geometry files. So what I do have today requires a bit of imagination on your part.

Imagine there’s a notetakermaker that goes with this powerpoint:

(powerpoint file here). The bottom three are from the end of the lesson where we practice identifying corresponding congruent angles before we even worry about proofs yet.

I bet the worksheet you imagined looked something this one, which was the next day’s practice:

(file here). YES, those triangles are pre-marked and labeled. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Now imagine that I did some sort of awesome introductory activity before jumping into congruence:

(file here)

More congruence:

(file here)

Now let’s do this FOR REAL

(file here) What’s that you say about those gorgeous Geogebra graphics? I’m blushing!

And some more!

(file here). Why yes, I am a sneaky devil putting the same picture for the last four, just with different givens!

Now this is the world’s most superfluous handout:

(file here) Yeah, good thing I made a handout so they didn’t have to draw FIVE triangles! Whew!

You’re going to have to imagine another worksheet for this powerpoint, or you could just use it for whiteboard review:

(file here) I know, I can’t believe it took me this many posts to figure out snipping the slide sorter view was better than a single slide.

Now imagine a study guide with everything typed in:

(file here) If you’re having trouble imagining it, maybe this powerpoint will help:

(file here). Also, let’s take a moment to discuss how I’m not imagining things when I’ve been saying that my home powerpoint acts weird. See how you can see the previous screen behind the slides? Does anyone else have this issue?

Now imagine that this blog has a counter for “____ hours saved by using Meg’s files and not making my own Geometry diagrams,” what do you think the total number would be? 😉

Category: Geometry | Tags: congruence, proofs, triangles

Geometry: Transversals & Linear Equations

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Meg Craig • 0 comment

tl;dr: Another chapter’s worth of files for Geometry: transversal angles, graphing lines, and writing equations of lines (more files and FAQs here).

To repeat my previous warning: it’s been 3 years since I used these to teach Geometry, so they’re not the bestest, but sometimes you need a quick file or something to build off, right? With that said, let’s get started: File here. Yeah, looks like I ran out of time and/or motivation on labeling everything on the document, but why I just didn’t copy and paste from the following powerpoint I made, I can’t explain. Also, these are legal which works out perfectly to print 2 to a letter page (which reminds me I need to do a post about “how to get a lot of crap on one sheet of paper”).

As for how to label each diagram, look no further than the following powerpoint, which also goes through each problem with highlighting lines and angles. I find this is a great way to both introduce topics and go over student work, especially if you have a remote clicker.

File here.

Next up, let’s talk about parallel lines and transversals:

File here, again needs hand-labeling.

Then some practice (hey, look, I actually labeled everything in the document!):

file here. And a powerpoint to go with it (alternatively, you could just use the powerpoint as a quick review or with whiteboards)

File here.

Now for some lines…why does it feel like I’m teaching these from scratch every year? No matter if it’s Geometry, Algebra II, or Precal?

Slope:

File here (“ugly 17 refers to our workbooks because we had two different ones that year. One that was nice and had a pretty cover and one that was “ugly”).

Graphing (yes, this worksheet probably looks familiar if you’ve been paying attention):

File here. The elevator is because you ride up/down to your floor first, then go to your hotel room. You don’t go to where your hotel room would be on the first floor, then have your own personal elevator take you up.

Then we wrote some equations of lines, then the next day brought in parallel/perpendicular. Notice I’m still using the old-school point-slope form, I like y = m(x-h) + k form now.

File here. We mark out the original equation after we steal the slope from it so we’re not tempted to use anything else from it in our new equation.

And some practice (I sometimes make worksheets with more problems than I assign, maybe doing evens in class with a partner and odds for homework):

File here. Then it’s time for a study guide.

file here. and a powerpoint key

File here.

And that’s all I got!

Category: Geometry | Tags: angles, lines, transversals

Giving Geometry Some Love: Definitions & Logic/Proofs

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Meg Craig • 3 comments

It’s been about 3 years since I taught Geometry and there are people doing a lot more creative and deep-thinking stuff than myself (see: Jim, Julie, Lisa, Mimi, Shireen, and many others), but ugh, having to draw a geometry diagram in Word?

(Hint: draw it in Geogebra, then use the snipping tool to grab it and insert, but even then it’s a pain). So just to save you some time and hassle, I’ll also be trying to share my Geometry files this summer; stay tuned to this page! Since it has been three years, much of it will be presented without comment. 🙂

Ah, the dreaded first chapter full of definitions. I guess I hated it so much I didn’t keep many files, but here’s what I do have:

File here.

Oh, here’s one thing I’ve done that’s pretty creative: I made my own Angle Awesomeness Rap (I used to have a bit of a commute and planned it out on my drive one day). It even has a snazzy powerpoint:

(file here) And NoteTakerMaker:

File here. Yeah, I know, I’m the next Beyonce.

Then I guess I did some sort of other work, and then a review

File here.

Now for Chapter 2: Logic and Proofs. First up, logic! With symbols! And lots of corgi references!

File here.

Geometry Files from megcraig.org File here.

File here.

Now…dun dun dunnnnnnn….. PROOFS! First, some properties:

File here. And hey, let’s figure out what we know from givens:

File here.

And then remind ourselves that We Can Figure Things Out (without a formal proof yet):

File here.

Then, we do the same problems with some proof handholding:

File here (and yes, the file has proofs for all 5 problems).

Then finally (finally!) we can start on some real from-scratch proofs:

File here. Also, look below at me being clever with using “G.I.F.T.” for proofs! And also Color With A Purpose. I also tell them that you should use every line in a proof, which is what the arrows are for. It seems to help if they’re stuck, “Well, is there anything you haven’t used yet?”