Geometry Lab: Midsegment of Triangles

Step-by-Step Guide

Part 1: Finding the Line Between Two Midpoints

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1) Go to www.geogebra.org and click Start GeoGebra, then click Geometry.
2) Click the 5th tab from the left, and under the drop-down menu, click on
Polygon tool.
3) Create a triangle of any size.
4) If the vertices of your triangle are not labeled, click the last tab at the
top. On the drop-down menu, click Show/Hide Label (the icon with the AA).
Click on each vertex of the triangle to label them.
5) Go to the 2nd tab and then click the Midpoint or Center tool.
6) Click on Point A and then on Point B to find the midpoint of AB. The midpoint
should be labeled Point D.
7) Click on Point B and then on Point C to find the midpoint of BC. The midpoint
should be labeled Point E.
8) *Go to the 3rd tab and click the Segment tool. Draw a line segment
connecting the midpoint of AB (Point D) to the midpoint of BC (Point E).
9) Go to the 4th tab and click the Parallel Line tool. Click either of the
midpoints (D or E), and then click the line AC. This is to find a line that goes
through both the points D and E and that is parallel to the side of the
triangle, AC.
10) Create another parallel line, but this time choose point A (or C) and
then choose line DE as your line.
11) Do not delete your triangle; you will need it for the second part of the
lab.

Discussion Questions
1) What do you find about the two lines you just created?
 Part 2: Measuring Midsegments

1) Click Undo a couple times so you can get rid of the parallel lines coming
out from the Triangle.
2) Find the midsegment of side AC. This should be labeled Point E. If you forgot
how to make a midsegment, look back at Step 8 from the front page.
3) Connect points E and F using the Segment Tool (the 3rd tab on top)and
points F and D to make another.
4) Click on the 8th tab from the right, and under the drop-down menu, click the
Distance or Length tool to measure the lengths of the triangle in the table
below. To measure the length of any segment, click its two endpoints.

ABC Length

FE
Parallel
AB

DF
Parallel
BC

DE
Parallel
CA

Discussion Question
1) Given the length of a side of a triangle, what do you notice about the length
of the midsegment that is parallel to it?

Practice Problems:
 D is the midpoint of AB and E is the midpoint of
AC.
1) If DE = 8, what is BC?

2) If AC = 15, what is AE?

J is the midpoint of GH and I is the midpoint of HF.

3) If GF = 22, what is IJ?

4) If HI = 4, what is HF?

N, O, and P are the midpoints of their respective sides.

5) What is NO parallel to?

6) If the measure of Angle KON = 35 degrees,

what is the measure of Angle ONP? Give a
reason for your answer.

7) If KM = 3x + 4 and NP = 2x - 3, what is KM?

8) If NO = x + 1, and PM = 2x - 5,
what is LP?

9) Challenge: If the measure of angle OPM is 77 degrees and Angle

KON is 35 degrees, find the measure of angle NKO.