Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Pythagorean Theorem The Sides of a Right Triangle

Nicole Giovagnoli

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Table of Contents
Introduction3 Lesson Plan..5 Engagement.5 Exploration7 Journaling.9 Explanation10 Elaboration.12 Evaluation/Journaling14 Worksheet.15 Pre/Post Tests17

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Title of Lesson: Pythagorean TheoremThe Sides of a Right Triangle

UFTeach student Name: Nicole Giovagnoli Length of Lesson: 100 minutes (two 50 minute class periods) Grade / Topic: 7th Grade Math Source of the Lesson: "Pythagorean Theoremthe Sides of a Right Triangle." Exploring algebra 1 with TI-Inspire. Key Curriculum Press, 2009. 131-133. Print. Appropriateness for Middle School Students: Students will work together in groups, and talk to complete the exploration. The lesson employs the use of tangible visuals for a hands-on approach to learning. Students will be actively involved during the lesson. Limit direct teaching to 5-10 minutes. The lesson actively engages students in discussing their learning/discovery.

Concepts
Students will build new mathematical knowledge about triangles by manipulating the sides and recording observations. Students will discover that in order to form a triangle, the sum of the sides of the two smaller squares must be greater than the length of the side of the largest square. Having students consider the sum of the areas of the squares made by the two shorter legs of a triangle (a2+b2) compared to the area of the square formed by the largest leg (c2) develops a full concept of the Pythagorean Theorem, a2 + b2 = c2. Placing these measurements alongside the types of triangles by angles quickly shows that when a2 + b2 < c2 the triangle is acute, when a2 + b2 > c2 the triangle is obtuse, and when a2 + b2 = c2 it is a right triangle. Students should be familiar with vocabulary and concepts associated with triangles, such as obtuse, acute, right, hypotenuse, legs and sides.

Performance Objectives
Students will be able to: Calculate the measurement of any side of a right triangle, given the lengths of the other two sides using the Pythagorean Theorem. Compute the answers to word problems by using the Pythagorean Theorem.

Florida State Standards:

MA.8.G.2.4: Validate and apply Pythagorean Theorem to find distances in real world situations or be tween points in the coordinate plane. Depth of Knowledge: Moderate l Date Adopted or Revised: 09/07

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Materials List and Student Handouts

Student pages Ti-Nspires

Tape for the engagement

Advance Preparations Power Point to supplement the lesson Make sure all TI-Nspires have the Document Right Triangle and are working properly Students will be working in pairs to complete the worksheet Safety
no significant safety concerns

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Pythagorean TheoremThe Sides of a Right Triangle

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ENGAGEMENT What the Teacher Will Do Probing Questions

Time: __ 15 minutes_______ Student Responses and Potential Misconceptions

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science Tape off two parallel lines several feet away from each other on the floor to represent the river.

Refer to the power point: Ask for a student to read the situation displayed on the power point aloud: Scott wants to swim across a river that is 400 meters wide. He begins swimming perpendicular to the shore he started from but ends up 100 meters down river from where he started because of the current. How far did he actually swim from his starting point? Begin a Think Pair Share cooperative exercise: direct students to think about the question/situation for a minute quietly to themselves. Then have students break into pairs to share their ideas about potential ways to go about solving the problem, and what certain math vocab terms used in the problem mean (give 2 minutes per person to speak, draw diagrams, and explain). Bring the class back together as a whole to discuss the problem. Ask for two volunteers to come to the front of the room to act the situation out. One student will be Scott and the other will be the current and direct him.

What is the question asking? Can someone summarize in your own words what Scotts path looks like?

[how far Scott swims from his starting point] [he starts swimming perpendicular to the shore, but drifts down the river because of the current, and ends up 100m down shore] [a straight line at right angles with another line]

What does perpendicular mean? One volunteer is Scott, and you (other volunteer) are the current. You two will re-enact this scenario. Class, if this is the river (taped off lines on floor), and Scott starts swimming perpendicular to the shore, who can tell me what the current does to his path? We know the river is 400m wide, and the distance down Page shore he 6 of 15 ends up is 100m, but how do we find the length of his actual

[pushes him at a diagonal across and down the river]

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

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EXPLORATION Probing/Eliciting Questions Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science Before we begin with our Readout loudthe directions: lesson, lets recap for a Everyonewill be gettinga TI-Nspire second: Who can tell me what all of the angles in a calculator.Wewill be lookingat triangle add up to be? right trianglestoday,and making What is a right angle observationsin regardsto the triangle? An obtuse relationshipof its sides. triangle? An acute triangle? Turn your calculators on. Hit the home screen on your calculator, then hit # 7 for My Documents. Scroll down until you see the folder called My Open the TI-Nspire Lib, and hit enter to open the document Right TI-Nspire document called Triangles.tns on your Right Triangle. handheld and go to page 1.2. Onceyou haveopenedthe TINspiredocumentRightTriangle, Drag point B or C to change the triangle into go to page1.2. an acute, obtuse, or right triangle. What the Teacher Will Do What is the relationship between the longest side and the largest angle? Press and hold the control key and press the right arrow to go to page 1.3. You can drag the points around, but this triangle will always be a right triangle. Someone tell me what do we call the longest side of a right triangle? Great! And what do we call the other two sides? On your calculators, Drag point B or C. What can you say about the side measurements? What do you notice about the location of the hypotenuse in relation to the angles? Now, again, press and hold the control key and press the right arrow to go to page 1.4. Page 8 of 15 On page 1.4, there is another right triangle, but

Time: _30 minutes_____ Student Responses and Misconceptions

[180 degrees]

[The longest side of the triangle is always opposite the largest angle. (if two or three sides are equally long, then two or three angles are equally large) ]

[The hypotenuse] [legs] Students may notice that line segment AC, the side opposite the right angle, is always longest.
*note: due to rounding error, a2 + b2 will not always equal c2

[The hypotenuse is always opposite (across from) the right angle.]

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Journaling What the Teacher Will Do Tell students that in tomorrows class we will pick up on where we left off today, and explain the reasons for what was discovered. Direct students to take the last 5 minutes of class to respond to todays prompt in their math journals and turn them into you on their way out. Ask students to think about what they discovered in todays interactive activity and apply it to prior knowledge to make conjectures about the explanation of such. Having students write about the concepts developed in todays lesson will tell you what needs emphasizing and clarification in tomorrows explanation. Probing Questions Some properties of a right triangle are

Time: __ 5 minutes_______ Student Responses and Potential Misconceptions

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ELABORATION What the Teacher Will Do Probing/Eliciting Questions

Time: ___20 minutes______ Student Responses and Misconceptions

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science The teacher will now present the class the following scenario again:

Scott wants to swim across a river that is 400 meters wide. He begins swimming perpendicular to the shore he started from but ends up 100 meters down river from EVALUATION & Journaling where he started because of What the How Teacher Will the current. far did heDo actually swim from his starting point? The teacher will now pass out the evaluation papers and Call on the instruct a student students toto describe work how they could individually without draw a calculator a diagram and to raise to illustrate their handthe if they situation have any questions. described in the problem. When 5minutes is up, collect the assessments from the students. Direct students to open up their math journals and respond to the prompt displayed on the board when they complete their test

What can we do to make this problem easier? What is the first piece Probing/Eliciting of information we are given? Questions Now you will be working What else are individually on this we postgiven? assessment. Using what you learned in class What does today about volume and perpendicular surface area, do mean? your best to complete the What two lines would evaluation. be perpendicular in your diagram? Prompt: what I liked But, does actually about this Scott lesson is swim straight across the river in this perpendicular line? What happened instead? Who thinks theyve got a good visual and can draw it on the board for the rest of the class?

[Draw a diagram.] Time: ____10 minutes_____ Responses [theStudent river is 400m wide] and Misconceptions [a description of the path Scott swam] [a straight line at right angles with another line] [the shore and his original path he wanted to take]

[no] [he drifted down the river, and ends up 100m down shore]

Call on a different student to draw the diagram on the board.

Great! Thank you (students name)!

[the distance Scott actually swam from his starting point] So now that we have a diagram, what exactly is your problem looking for again? Doesnt the diagram look like something weve seen today? What part of the triangle Page 10 of 15 is what were looking for?

[Yes, its a right triangle!] [the hypotenuse IS the distance Scott actually swam] [using the Pythagorean theorem!]

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

The Sides of a Right Triangle

Directions:
1. Go to page 1.4 2. CALCULATOR: drag around any of the vertices of the triangle, changing the size of the different squares making up its sides. Do this five times. 3. RECORDER: write down the data concerning the area of the squares in the chart provided for each of the five triangles the calculator creates.
A sqC B sqA sqB C

4. After 5 minutes, you will switch positions. The calculator will become the recorder, and reorder will become the calculator for the next 5 rows. 5. Repeat steps 2-3.

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Area of Square AB

Area of Square BC

Area of Square AC

(in cm2)

(in cm2)

(in cm2)

10

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

Pre-Assessment

Name: _______________________ Date: _______________________

#1) Calculate the measurement of the hypotenuse using the Pythagorean Theorem. (show work!)

x 3

#2.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this problem. The distance from the work site to

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a=?

c = 6 miles

Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

the bridge is 4 miles. This distance is one side of a right triangle. The distance across the bridge, 6 miles, is the hypotenuse of the triangle. The length of the third side is an unknown distance. Calculate this distance.

b = 4 miles

#3)

True or False: If false briefly explain why. If a, b, and c are sides of a triangle, and a2 + b2 = c2, the triangle is never a right triangle.

Post-assessment

Name: ______________________ Date: _______________________

#1) Calculate the measurement of the hypotenuse using the Pythagorean Theorem. (show work!)

x 3

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Step 2: Inquiry-based Lesson Design in Science

#2)

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this problem. The distance from the work site to the bridge is 3 miles. This distance is one side of a right triangle. The distance across the bridge, 5 miles, is the hypotenuse of the same triangle. The length of the third side is the unknown distance. Calculate this distance.

a=?

c = 5 miles

b = 3 miles

#3)

True or False: If false briefly explain why. If a, b, and c are sides of a triangle, and a2 + b2 = c2, the triangle is always a right triangle.

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