What's Going On? November 28th through December 2nd

Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

This week we will be starting our sixth unit on polygons and quadrilaterals.  We will begin the week talking about interior angles and exterior angles.  Students will use the formula 180(n-2) to find the sum of the interior angles of a polygon, where n represents the number of sides in the polygon.  We will also learn that one set of exterior angles of a polygon will always add to 360°.

Later in the week we will focus on quadrilaterals.  We will learn about parallelograms, apply our knowledge of parallelograms to a formal two-column proof to show that a quadrilateral is a parallelogram, and we will learn about the characteristics of special parallelograms.

What's Going On? November 21st and November 22nd

Finishing Up Unit 5: Triangle Relationships

During this short week leading up to Thanksgiving, we will be finishing up our fifth unit on Triangle Relationships.  During Monday's class, students will have the opportunity to complete our unit 5 practice test and ask questions.  On Monday night, students are invited to join our "Class Kick" session.  Students can download the "Class Kick" app on their iPads and work on their review assignment using class code "OL9 EE2".  I can then check in with students, respond to questions, and review the work that students are doing outside of school.  This would be an awesome time to get some extra help!

For this summative assessment, students will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge on three learning targets.  The first target is 3c: I can solve for missing measurements.  Students will be asked to solve for missing measurements in triangles using our triangle relationship properties that we learned about during the unit.

Students will be asked to solve questions like the one below:

The second target is 1c: I can perform geometric constructions.  Throughout the unit, students learned about four different points of concurrency.  We learned about the "incenter", the point that allows us to draw a circle inside a triangle and just touch each side.  We learned about the "circumcenter", the point that allows us to draw a circle outside of the triangle that just touches each vertex.  We learned about the "centroid", or the balance point for the triangle, and we learned about the "orthocenter", the point where all of the altitudes of a triangle meet.

For this section, students will be asked to solve questions like:

The owner of an amusement park is looking for ways to increase revenue.  She has an idea that for every three attractions, she would like to add a new snack stand that is the same distance from the three attractions.  Where should the new snack stand be located for the dragon boat ride, the roller coaster and the carousel?  Explain your answer.

For the last section of the test, students will address target 2a: I can write an equation.

For this section, students will be asked to answer questions like:

Write the equation for median AX.

What's Going On? November 14th through November 18th

Unit 5: Triangle Relationships

This week we will start our fifth unit for the year.  During this very quick unit, we will focus on properties and relationships that exist within in a single triangle.  We will only have four lessons that go along with this unit and students should expect a summative on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break.  

During this unit, we will focus on four different learning targets:

• 1c: I can make formal geometric constructions, including points of concurrency.
• 1e: I can prove theorems about congruent triangles.
• 
  2c: I can write equations of lines.
• 3c: I can compute, solve and analyze geometric shapes and measures.

Students will learn about different points of concurrency that exist within triangles. While learning about these points, students will write equations for altitudes, perpendicular bisectors, and medians of a triangle. We will also use a free app called "Geometry: Constructions Tutor (Lite)" in order to work more with constructions. Students should have this app installed for Monday's class.

We will start off the week talking about angle bisectors in triangles. We will learn about a point known as the "incenter" that allows us to draw a circle that just touches all three sides of a triangle.

Next, we will talk about perpendicular bisectors in triangles.  We will learn about a point known as the "circumcenter" that allows us to draw a circle that passes through all three vertices of the triangle.

We will talk about medians in triangles.  We will do an activity where students find the "centroid" of a triangle.  This is the magic "balance point" of the triangle.

Lastly, we will talk about altitudes.  Students will construct an "orthocenter" of a triangle which is where all three altitudes of the triangle intersect.

What's Going On? November 7th through November 11th

Finishing Up Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

Last week, students investigated triangle congruence shortcuts.  Students learned about five different shortcuts that we can use to say that two triangles are the exact same size and shape: SSS, SAS, ASA, SAA/AAS, and HL Congruence.  We also learned about two shortcuts that are not sufficient to prove that two triangles are congruent: SSA and AAA.

This week we will be finishing up our fourth unit on triangle congruence.  On the first two days of the week, we will focus on proving two triangles congruent with a formal two-column proof.

We will also take this one step further.  Once we prove that the two triangles are congruent, we will be able to say that their corresponding parts are also congruent using CPCTC (Corresponding Parts of Congruent Triangles are Congruent).

At the end of the week we will review and complete our fourth unit summative assessment.

Reminder: Unit 3 Summative Retakes are Due Soon!

Students who would like to take a retake on one or both sections of our unit 3 summative must have this completed before our next summative.  In order to be eligible for a retake, students must:

• Make sure that all formative work from unit 3 is complete. Please verify this in Infinite Campus.
• Students must make corrections on the original assessment.
• E-Mail Mrs. Kamenar to request extra practice and complete it.
• Schedule your retake.

Please see me if you have any questions.

Parent Teacher Conferences

This is just a reminder that parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for this Thursday, November 10 from 4:30-7:30pm.  Parents and students can meet with teachers at this time in the field house.  I will be available to talk about student progress and goal setting at this time.