"Quadrilateral Properties"

Using Comparison and Contrast
by: Kelli Nipper

Title: "Quadrilateral Properties"

Time Allotment: One fifty-minute class period

Prerequisite Skills: This mini-lesson is part of a unit for analyzing polygons. Before starting, students should have a basic understanding of triangle and general polygon classification as well as meanings of geometric terms including parallel lines, congruence, and similarity.

Objective: The learner will demonstrate an ability to recognize relationships between quadrilaterals and organize them according to these properties.

Materials: Each student will need a geoboard and several rubber bands as well as the visual organizers provided.

Warm-Up Activity: Students create a variety of 4-sided figures on geoboards. Then each group makes a collection of different quadrilaterals based on recognized properties. Each group will share their figures with the class, and figures should be modeled and appropriately named on the board for later reference.

Compare and Contrast: Students will compare properties of parallelograms to those of trapezoids using a visual organizer.

Teaching Strategies:
*Involvement of students in active learning
*Promotion of group work (collaborative and cooperative learning)
*Enhancement of written and oral communication
*Discovery approach
*Integration of mathematics with other disciplines
*Teaching to encompass a variety of learning styles
*Relating new knowledge to old
*Promoting higher level thinking

Assessment: Comprehension will be determined by their written explanation and graphic organization of their findings.

Using the criteria below, list characteristics of parallelograms and trapezoids from the figures discussed. Work with a partner.

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