The beauty of this challenge is that students can immediately test their own answers by comparing them to the computer print-out. By overlaying the computer key and their answer and holding both up to the light, students can clearly see how close their construction is. We'll follow this up by a discussion of which strategy achieved the most accurate results and why that is.
"Draw a shape that is exactly twice as large as this one." How would you use only physical tools (ruler, protractor) to complete this task I set to my Geometry class? Most of my students solved this challenge by doubling the sidelengths and replicating the angles. While this is a valid approach, as you work your way around the shape, small errors compound, and your final point may be very far off from where you intended. Only one student attempted, though did not complete, another construction suggested by the diagram below. In this approach each new point drawn is drawn twice as far away from a focus point. Because each new point drawn references the same focus point, slight errors to not compound. The construction I was able to make with only a ruler (no protractor needed) was extremely close to my computer print-out.
The beauty of this challenge is that students can immediately test their own answers by comparing them to the computer print-out. By overlaying the computer key and their answer and holding both up to the light, students can clearly see how close their construction is. We'll follow this up by a discussion of which strategy achieved the most accurate results and why that is.
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About Me
I started this blog to share my transformation from math nerd to math nerd who loves to share math with young people. I teach high school in Hanoi, Vietnam. Your comments are always welcome. Archives
May 2021
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