High School Geometry

Experimenting with Transformations of Polygons

Mathematics Learning Objectives​​:

● Students will be able to describe that rotations and reflections that carry a given polygon onto itself
(​CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.CO.A.3​).
● Students will be able to draw a transformed figure given a starting figure and sequence of transformations
(​CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.CO.A.5)​.

Language Objectives​​:
● Students will be able to develop definitions of rotations, reflections, and translations.
● Students will be able to articulate the importance of a line of reflection or mirror line in reflections.
● Students will be able to articulate the importance of a center of rotation in rotations.

Essential Question​​: How do different transformations affect a given polygon?

Common Core State Mathematics Standards​​:

Source: ​http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/HSG/CO/
● CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.CO.A.3​ - Given a rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, or regular polygon, describe
the rotations and reflections that carry it onto itself.
● CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.CO.A.5 ​- Given a geometric figure and a rotation, reflection, or translation, draw
the transformed figure using, e.g., graph paper, tracing paper, or geometry software. Specify a sequence of
transformations that will carry a given figure onto another.

Materials​​: For this activity, you will need the following:

● Computers with access to the Internet and Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP)
● Guess Who? Polygon Edition Slides
● Geometer’s Sketchpad file: ​Transformation Investigation.gsp
○ Guiding Student Worksheet for the Transformation Investigation
● Geometer’s Sketchpad file: ​Mystery_Transformations.gsp
○ Guide Student Worksheet for the Mystery Transformations Activity
● Geometer’s Sketchpad file: ​Let’s Help Jack Walk the Map.gsp

Notes to the Reader​​: This lesson was created assuming students know the definitions for angle, circle, perpendicular
line, parallel line, and line segment. We also assumed that students have basic knowledge of polygons and their
properties and have basic skills in describing transformations as functions that take points in the plane as inputs and give
other points as outputs. In the detailed plan for instructional time, examples of what the teacher may say will be ​italicized​.

Detailed Plan for Instructional Time

Time​: 90 minutes

Time What is the teacher doing? What are students doing?

10 Warm-Up: ​Guess Who? Polygon Edition Students will split into small groups.
min. The teacher may choose to ​use the provided Google slides​ to aide
in the game. As a group, students will ask the instructor yes or
no questions that will help them guess what the
For this small group activity, students will compete in a game similar mystery polygon is.
to “Guess Who?”. Students will have to correctly guess three
different shapes by asking questions about the mystery polygon’s Some questions Students may ask are:
properties. ● Does the mystery polygon have 3 sides?
● Does it have 4 acute angles?
 The three mystery shapes are as follows: (1) Equilateral Triangle, ● Does it have 3 acute angles?
(2) Right Trapezoid, and (3) Regular Hexagon. ● Is it a regular polygon?
● Can it tessellate?
The teacher will instruct students to guess what polygon he/she has ● Etc.
selected by asking yes/no questions about the polygon’s properties.
● Students are not allowed to ask how many sides the Each group will be competing with one another to
polygon has because that would make the game too easy. have the most number of points.
In other words, students cannot ask, “Does your polygon
have exactly 3 sides?”. For groups to be successful, students will have to
● Examples of valid questions include: ““Does your polygon recall important geometric properties of each
have parallel sides?”, “Does your polygon have a right shape.
angle?”, “Does the polygon have an acute angle?”, “Does
the polygon have 2 acute angles?”, etc.

After a team correctly guesses the polygon, the teacher will move to
the next slide that displays an example and key properties.

This warm-up was designed to prepare students for the following

activities that will require them to pay close attention to specific
properties. The ability to recall geometric properties may assist
students in the following investigation and this is a great opportunity
for review.

Example of what to say for this activity​:

Who here has played “Guess Who?” before? Well, today’s warm-up
is inspired by that game. Here are the rules: We’re going to split up
into small groups, and each group is allowed to ask me a yes or no
question that will help them guess what shape it is. You cannot ask
me how many sides it has because that would be too easy! For
example, you can ask me “Does your polygon have parallel sides?”,
“Does your polygon have a right angle?”, etc. If you guess correctly,
you get a point. Whoever has the most points after three rounds
wins.

25 Activity #1 - Transformation Investigation Pairs of students will be using a DGE (Geometer’s

min. The teacher will instruct students to open the file “GSP File -
Transformation Investigation” in Geometer’s Sketchpad and will
distribute ​the provided guiding worksheet​.
In this activity, students will work in pairs to investigate translations,
reflections, and rotations in a DGE environment to allow them to
develop their own definitions and identify at least three different
properties of each transformation.
The teacher will remind students that there will be a discussion
about what they are investigating afterwards.
Sketchpad) to investigate translations, reflections,
and rotations.
Students will be following the provided student
worksheet to help guide their investigation.
For each type of transformation discussed,
students must come up with their own definition
and identify at least three different properties of
each transformation.

Students may be uncomfortable with the idea of coming up with their
own definitions, but teacher intervention is discouraged. This activity
was designed to foster geometric thinking by engaging in geometric
habits of mind. It is important for the teacher to encourage students
to do their best and explore the sketches to find inspiration. If they
have any questions that the teacher will not answer, encourage
them to write them down to ask during the classroom discussion
later on.
Students may be uncomfortable with coming up
with their own definitions, so students may ask
clarifying questions, but teacher intervention is
discouraged.
Students will write down any questions they may
have to save for the classroom discussion later on.

Example of what to say for this activity​:

Now we will investigate 3 different types of transformations:
translations, reflections, and rotations in Geometer’s Sketchpad.
 Open the gsp file called “GSP File - Transformation Investigation”.
With your partner, follow the worksheet I have provided to you to
aide in your investigation. One of the key components of this activity
is for you to come up with your own definitions and identify unique
properties of each transformation. I will be moving around the
classroom to answer any clarifying questions you may have, but I
​ ot​ ​be giving you exact definitions of each transformation type at
will n
this time. After about 25 minutes or so, we will come together as a
class and talk about what you come up with. If you have any
questions that I will not answer, write them down so we can talk
about them as a class later.

15 Classroom Discussion about Activity #1 Students will share the definitions and properties of
min. The instructor will open up the Transformation Investigation gsp file each type of transformation that they have
and project it onto the screen at the front of the class for all students developed in the Transformation Investigation.
to see (conveyance tool).
Students will critique and provide feedback on one
The ​provided student worksheet and example​ may help the teacher another’s definitions in order to reach a conclusion
guide the discussion. satisfactory to the instructor.

As a class, the teacher will lead the class in a discussion about what Students will critique and provide feedback on one
they learned from their investigation and the definitions and another’s properties of each transformation in
properties they’ve developed for each transformation. order to reach a conclusion satisfactory to the
instructor.
When a student offers to share a definition or property of a
transformation, require the student to explain how they reached their
conclusion. Use the projector to show the rest of the students in the
classroom what the student is talking about. If the teacher is
confused about what a student is trying to explain, have the student
come to the front of the classroom and use the projector to show the
class what they are trying to say.

If a consensus is made between the students and teacher about a

definition or property, write it down on the board for all students to
reference and also have your students write it down on their own
pieces of paper. Repeat this process until the teacher is satisfied
with the class’ definition and properties of each transformation.

To promote effective mathematical discourse, some questions that

the teacher may ask are as follows:
● Do you agree with [Student Name]’s definition of a
(translation/reflection/rotation)? Why or why not?
● Is this definition always true for every
(translation/reflection/rotation)?
● Would anyone like to add to [Student Name]’s definition of
(translation/reflection/rotation)?
● How would you explain (translation/reflection/rotation) to
someone who missed class today?
● Is this property always true for every
(translation/reflection/rotation)?
● Do these transformations share any similarities?

Example of what to say for this activity​:

● You’ve spent a lot of time investigating these transformations.
Who would like to share their definition of a translation?
● What properties of a (translation/rotation/reflection) did you and
your partner come up with?
● Is everyone satisfied with this definition of a
 (translation/rotation/reflection)? If so, let’s write it down.
10 Activity #2 - Mystery Transformations
min. For this individual activity, students will complete the “Mystery
Transformations” worksheet and use the
Mystery_Transformations.gsp​ file to manipulate some points and
shapes, determining in the end what type of transformation has
been applied.
The teacher will begin by either sharing the ​guiding document​ or
printing it to provide to their students. The guiding document also
includes a ​student example​ for the teacher to use as a reference.
The teacher will then walk around the room to check in on students
while they are completing the assignment.
S/he may ask students guiding questions such as:
● “How did you reach that conclusion?”
● “Why do you think that? Why is that true?”
● “How could you prove that the transformation applied to the
point or shape is a rotation, reflection, or translation?
to help students make sense of the answers they have chosen for
the activity.
20 Activity #3 - “Let’s Help Jack Walk the Map! (GSP
min. Transformation Activity)”
For this individual activity, students will use their knowledge of
transformations, from today’s lesson, to help them get Jack to his
hidden treasure.
In order for students to work on this activity, the teacher must share
the link with students through their school gmail accounts. Within the
email, the teacher should give directions as to how students should
download the file and how they should save it to their computer, as
well as instructions for the activity itself.
Students will begin by opening their gmail accounts and reading the
email sent to them by their teacher regarding the activity at hand.
Once this has been completed students will follow the directions to
save the ​GSP​ (Geometer’s Sketchpad) File and continue with the
activity.
Directions for the ​Let’s Help Jack Walk the Map:
● This is Jack Sparrow and he needs your help getting to his
hidden treasure. Your job is going to be using the
transformations (rotations, reflections, and translations) you
learned from class today to help you move along the red
dotted path. Make sure to stay on the red dotted path and
do not stray, for if you do Jack may get lost from his
treasure forever!!! ARRRGGG you ready to begin?
After students have completed the activity and have helped Jack
Students will work on this activity individually (if
individual devices are unavailable, the teacher may
then partner up students to work on the activity
together).
Students will be given a hand handout of the
Mystery Transformations activity to complete by
hand. Or students will be emailed a link to the
shared google document by their teacher.
Once students have opened the shared GSP link,
they will navigate through their guiding worksheet
and the tabs of the GSP file to complete the
activity.
Students may have the following answers that
correlate to those on the teacher’s “will do” section
of this lesson plan:
● (Conclusion of point A and B under the
first action tab of the GSP file) I came to
the conclusion that point A and B are in
fact a translation because the points
remain the exact same distance from one
another, no matter where or how they are
moved on the page. I gathered this
conclusion from the previous activity we
did.
● Etc.
Students will work on this activity individually (if
individual devices are unavailable, the teacher may
then partner up students to work on the activity
together).
Students will use their device, to first, save the
following​ link​.
Once this has been completed students will open
the GSP file, following the directions to help Jake
walk the map safely to his hidden treasure.
Students will use their knowledge of
transformations to apply translations, rotations,
and reflections to the Jack Sparrow stick figure to
move him about the map.
This is a student example of the above activity:
https://goo.gl/NTRWoC
 reach his treasure safely by using transformations, they should save
their file like so: LastName_FirstName_JackSparrowExitTicket.gsp
Students will later submit their finished GSP file in a google form
shared with them by their teacher.
10 Exit Ticket Activity:
min. The teacher should share the below google form with students in
order to finish this final, exit ticket activity.
Students, by now, should have saved their file, as mentioned above.
Once this has been accomplished students will accept the shared
google form shared with them by their teacher and fill it out by
answering the questions within and submitting their saved GSP file.
Google Form Students will Fill Out: ​https://goo.gl/J9GoUn
The teacher must send out the google form to students within the
class. Once this has been completed students will then have access
to the form to be able to feel it out as their exit ticket for the day.
Summary of Links Used Throughout Lesson
Guess Who? Polygon Edition Guiding https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tQWDUUEBT0Mh_QHLiGMyNTV
Slides p4fhS1FJUXnqHoq5_3xI/edit?usp=sharing
GSP File - Transformation Investigation https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H2ie-zoDwZn4qZX8V2jv7KFYG8QGuAfl/vi
ew?usp=sharing
Student Guiding Worksheet and Example https://goo.gl/XYZJ4J
for the Transformation Investigation
Student Guiding Worksheet for the https://goo.gl/PfrHdg
Mystery Transformation Activity
GSP File - Mystery Transformation https://goo.gl/BL1ctZ
Students will work on this activity alone on their
own device (if individual devices are unavailable,
the teacher may then partner up students to work
on the activity together).
Students will log on to their school gmail accounts
and open the email that was sent to them by their
teacher including the google form for the exit ticket
of the day.
Once students have opened the form, they may
then fill out the questions of:
1. What is one thing you learned today that
you did not know before class?
2. Did you feel that the tasks we completed in
class helped you to understand the
concepts of transformations? If so tell me
how.
3. Are there any questions you still have
about transformations? Please tell me now
so we can get them resolved sooner rather
than later.
to assist the teacher in assessing where the
students are in their knowledge of transformations
after the day’s lesson.
Finally students will upload their GSP file into the
google form before submitting to the teacher.
Students may upload the GSP file to either their
drive and then into the form or upload it straight
from their computer into the form.
This is a student example of the Google Form:
https://goo.gl/kaiwHV
GSP File - Let’s Help Jack Walk the Map https://goo.gl/vREsJ3

Exit Ticket Google Form https://goo.gl/J9GoUn

Sources for Activities and Files Used in the Lesson Plan

Preparing to Teach Mathematics with Technology: Mystery_Transformations: Chapter 4 ​https://goo.gl/mRe7Aw

Reflections Rotation Language of Functions

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NUGzQYwthg26782ctkTONiSw_xdYqfRe/view?usp=sharing

Rotation_Slider.gsp
https://drive.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/file/d/1R--IEn01gtbTzGLMHGJAqgFPbcG_M6Tb/view?usp=sharing