The Mystery of the Nameless Triangle

In class on Tuesday this week we got to explore the complex but fascinating world of triangles. The first activity consisted of us all getting a colored piece of paper and ruler and could draw any big triangle we wanted to and then we needed to classify what kind of triangle it was. But we had no words or even their definitions of what to classify the triangle we couldn't just leave it nameless! So, with the mystery needing to be solved, we needed clues and definitions so next came the foldable that was going to solve our dilemma of the nameless triangle.

The "classifying triangles" foldable (picture at the bottom) consisted of the categories angles and sides. First, we addressed the angles side which is put into three separate categories the first being acute, then right, then obtuse. Acute triangles are defined as having all angles measure to less than 90°. Right triangles are defined as having exactly 1 90° angle within the triangle. And lastly, obtuse triangles are defined as having one angle greater than 90° and less than 180°. So with these definitions, we could now define what kind of triangle it was by its angles! But, we still needed the sides to get the full picture and completely define what kind of triangle we had next to us laying on the table waiting to be labeled and to be solved. The sides were put into three categories just like the angles and the categories were equilateral, isosceles, and scalene. An equilateral triangle is defined as all of the sides having the same length. An isosceles triangle is defined as at least 2 sides having the same length. And a scalene triangle is defined as all of the sides have different lengths. After sides and angles were defined, there were extra boxes within the foldable that we were able to draw close to accurate pictures of what each triangle would look like to get a visual aspect and understanding of classifying triangles.

Now we could FINALLY solve the mystery of what we could name our different triangles. Using our newly gained knowledge, and angle finders and protractors, we were able to solve it and name our triangles! My official name for my triangle was an acute scalene triangle.

This lesson was interactive and I could truly apply what I learned automatically and if I still didn't understand I could ask for clarification in class from my fellow peers and professor. I would definitely use a hands-on activity like this in my future classroom because it truly helps you visually see what types of triangles there are and finding the way that works for you to understand and remember the definitions of each classification of a triangle.

Helpful link: 
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/geometry/shapeshoot/triangles_shoot.htm
-This link gets you to an interactive math game called triangles shoot which will give students a better understanding of triangles and their angles and sides.

 (The foldable in its full glory.)

 (What the foldable looks on the outside)









(The triangle that was finally named!)