Lesson Plan
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Stitching Quilts into Coordinate Geometry

For Students 8th - 11th Standards
Who knew quilting would be so mathematical? Introduce linear equations and graphing while working with the lines of pre-designed quilts. Use the parts of the design to calculate the slope of the linear segments. The project...
Activity
101 Questions

Ditch Diggers

For Students 7th - 8th Standards
What's the best way to dig a ditch? Scholars watch a video that shows the progress of ditch digging from two ends. Using coordinate geometry, they determine whether two ends will eventually connect to form one single ditch or not.
Activity
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Curated OER

Geometry Project

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Proofs are usually an intimidating assignment. An engaging lesson focused on geometric proofs may reduce the anxiety! Pupils choose between several triangle proofs to complete and work on completing them. The...
Activity
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Bank Shot

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Bank on geometry to line up the shot. The resource asks the class to determine the location to bank a cue ball in a game of billiards. Using their knowledge, class members determine where to hit the bumper to make a shot and discuss...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Reflecting Reflections

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
A triangle rests in quadrant two, from which your class members must draw reflections, both over x=2 and x=-2. This focused exercise strengthens learners' skills when it comes to reflection on the coordinate plane.
Activity
101 Questions

Best Midpoint

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Develop a strong understanding of what it means to be a midpoint. Learners analyze the angles, coordinates, and lengths of segments and their approximated midpoints. They use their analyses to develop a formula to rank four attempts at...
Activity
Curated OER

Unit Squares and Triangles

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
This is an interesting geometry problem. Given the figure, find the area of a triangle that is created by the intersecting lines. The solution requires one to use what he/she knows about coordinate geometry, as well as triangle...
Activity
101 Questions

Best Square

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
If you're a square, be the best square you can be! Young scholars develop a formula to determine the four points that make the best square that considers the area, perimeter, and other dimensions. They use their formulas to rank attempts...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Point Reflection

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Use this task as an exit ticket for your eight graders during the geometry unit. All they need to do is identify the coordinates of a point reflected over y=2000. 
Activity
Education Development Center

Finding Triangle Vertices

For Teachers 6th - 7th Standards
Where in the world (or at least in the coordinate plane) is the third vertex? Given two coordinate points for the vertices of a triangle, individuals find the location of the third vertex. They read an account of fictional...
Activity
Education Development Center

Finding Parallelogram Vertices

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Four is the perfect number—if you're talking about parallelograms. Scholars determine a possible fourth vertex of a parallelogram in the coordinate plane given the coordinates of three vertices. They read a conversation...
Lesson Plan
Shodor Education Foundation

Triangle Area

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...
Lesson Plan
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Illustrative Mathematics

Why Does SSS Work?

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
While it may seem incredibly obvious to the geometry student that congruent sides make congruent triangles, the proving of this by definition actually takes a bit of work. This exercise steps the class through this kind of proof by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is This a Rectangle?

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
How do you show that something is a rectangle? This activity starts with four coordinate points and asks young geometers to explain whether they create a rectangle. Knowledge from both geometry and algebra come into play here, as well...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Global Positioning System I

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Geometry learners touch the surface of how a global positioning system works. The end goal is to find the intersections of three different spheres geometrically and algebraically given their algebraic representations.
Activity
Agile Mind

Transforming Graphs of Quadratic Functions

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
In the activity on this webpage, learners use interactive graphing technology to investigate transformations of graphs. In the first part of the task, they look at the graph of a quadratic function with coordinates of a few points...
Activity
5280 Math

Triangle Area Patterns

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Combine algebraic and geometric strategies to find solutions. The task asks learners to find the coordinates of a third vertex of a triangle to create a triangle with a specific area. The project is a set of seven problems that...
Lesson Plan
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Illustrative Mathematics

Similar Triangles

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Proving triangles are similar is often an exercise in applying one of the many theorems young geometers memorize, like the AA similarity criteria. But proving that the criteria themselves are valid from basic principles is a great...
Activity
Ms. Amber Nakamura's Mathematics Website

Algebra Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What would your dream house look like? A cottage? A medieval castle? High schoolers enrolled in Algebra design the perfect house while using slopes to write equations for various aspects of the project.
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Do Two Points Always Determine a Linear Function?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Your learners can approach this task algebraically, geometrically, or both. They analyze the building of a linear function given two points and expand the concrete approach to the abstract when they are asked to find the general form of...
Activity
Houston Area Calculus Teachers

Area and Volume

For Students 11th - Higher Ed
An AP calculus lesson begins with an activity to determine the volume of a solid using a cross-section. Next, learners review the ways to find the area between two curves , as well how to find the volume of a solid created...
Activity
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Nctm: Figure This: Math Challenges for Families

For Students 2nd - 8th
Students, teachers, and parents alike will enjoy this challenging math site. It contains a clever brain teaser section plus creative problems related to algebra, geometry, measurement, numbers, statistics, and probability. A Spanish...
Activity
Other

Worksheet Works: Coordinate Picture Graphing

For Students 2nd - 4th
Generate a worksheet for practice in how to plot coordinate pairs as you copy an image. Choose an image, the type of grid, the number of quadrants, and the layout, then download your worksheet in PDF format.
Activity
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The Math Forum: Analytic Geometry: Polar Coordinates

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site from The Math Forum provides great information on polar coordinates. You can access this information either by clicking on the coordinates link or just scrolling down, it is the first one listed on the page. Includes several...