Running Head: LESSON PLAN 1

Lesson Plan

Justin Laurens

University of Georgia

EMAT 3900

Ms. Hyejin Park

September 27, 2016

LESSON PLAN 2

CENTERS OF TRIANGLES
Modified from Georgia Department of Education (2016)

Subject: Geometry Class Length: 95 Minutes

Date: Unit 2 September 26, 2016 Number of Students: 16-30

Materials Needed: Copy Paper, Pencil, Colored Pens/Markers, Compasses & Rulers, Miras, Patty Paper,
Tablets/Laptops with Geometers Sketchpad or Geogebra (or similar) software.

Lesson Goal: Construct Perpendicular lines, parallel lines, segment bisectors, and angle bisectors in order to
investigate the different centers of a triangle.

GSE Standards (Georgia Department of Education, 2016):

MGSE9-12.G.CO.12 Make formal geometric constructions with a variety of tools and methods (compass
and straightedge, string, reflective devices, paper folding, dynamic geometric software, etc.). Copying a segment;
copying an angle; bisecting a segment; bisecting an angle; constructing perpendicular lines, including the
perpendicular bisector of a line segment; and constructing a line parallel to a given line through a point not on the
line.

Standards for Mathematical Practice Addressed (Georgia Department of Education, 2016):

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them by requiring students to interpret and make
meaning of a problem and find a logical starting point, and to monitor their progress and change their
approach to solving the problem, if necessary.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively by requiring students to make sense of quantities and their
relationships to one another in problem situations.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others by engaging students on discussion of
why they agree or disagree with responses, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to
clarify or improve the arguments.
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4. Model with mathematics by expecting students to apply the mathematics concepts they know in order to
solve problems arising in everyday situations, and reflect on whether the results are sensible for the given
scenario.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically by expecting students to consider available tools when solving a
mathematical problem. These tools might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor,
a compass, a calculator, software, etc.
6. Attend to precision by requiring students to calculate efficiently and accurately; and to communicate
precisely with others by using clear mathematical language to discuss their reasoning.
7. Look for and make use of structure by expecting students to apply rules, look for patterns and analyze
structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning by expecting students to understand broader
applications and look for structure and general methods in similar situations.

Previous Knowledge of Students:

Students will have experience with constructions using multiple methods available (Mira, Compass &
Straight Edge, Patty Paper, and Computer Software).
Students will have understanding of properties of Triangles, as well as measures of center.
Students will have experience with reasoning and proving, as well as justifying conjectures.

Vocabulary: (Georgia Department of Education, p. 9-12)

Adjacent Angles: Angles in the same plane that have a common vertex and a common side, but no
common interior points.
Alternate Exterior Angles: Alternate exterior angles are pairs of angles formed when a third line (a
transversal) crosses two other lines. These angles are on opposite sides of the transversal and are outside
the other two lines. When the two other lines are parallel, the alternate exterior angles are equal.
Alternate Interior Angles: Alternate interior angles are pairs of angles formed when a third line (a
transversal) crosses two other lines. These angles are on opposite sides of the transversal and are in
between the other two lines. When the two other lines are parallel, the alternate interior angles are equal.
Angle: Angles are created by two distinct rays that share a common endpoint (also known as a vertex).
ABC or B denote angles with vertex B.
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Bisector: A bisector divides a segment or angle into two equal parts.

Centroid: The point of concurrency of the medians of a triangle.
Circumcenter: The point of concurrency of the perpendicular bisectors of the sides of a triangle
Corresponding Angles: Angles that have the same relative positions in geometric figures.
Incenter: The point of concurrency of the bisectors of the angles of a triangle.
Intersecting Lines: Two lines in a plane that cross each other. Unless two lines are coincidental, parallel,
or skew, they will intersect at one point.
Intersection: The point at which two or more lines intersect or cross.
Line: One of the basic undefined terms of geometry. Traditionally thought of as a set of points that has no
thickness but its length goes on forever in two opposite directions. AB denotes a line that passes through
point A and B.
Line Segment or Segment: The part of a line between two points on the line. AB denotes a line segment
between the points A and B.
Linear Pair: Adjacent, supplementary angles. Excluding their common side, a linear pair forms a straight
line.
Median of a Triangle: A segment is a median of a triangle if and only if its endpoints are a vertex of the
triangle and the midpoint of the side opposite the vertex.
Orthocenter: The point of concurrency of the altitudes of a triangle.
Perpendicular Bisector: A perpendicular line or segment that passes through the midpoint of a segment.
Perpendicular Lines: Two lines are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle.
Point: One of the basic undefined terms of geometry. Traditionally thought of as having no length, width,
or thickness, and often a dot is used to represent it.
Same-Side Interior Angles: Pairs of angles formed when a third line (a transversal) crosses two other
lines. These angles are on the same side of the transversal and are between the other two lines. When the
two other lines are parallel, same-side interior angles are supplementary.
Same-Side Exterior Angles: Pairs of angles formed when a third line (a transversal) crosses two other
lines. These angles are on the same side of the transversal and are outside the other two lines. When the two
other lines are parallel, same-side exterior angles are supplementary.
Supplementary Angles: Two angles whose sum is 180 degrees.
Transversal: A line that crosses two or more lines.
Vertical Angles: Two nonadjacent angles formed by intersecting lines or segments. Also called opposite
angles.
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Connection to Previous Content:

Connect to previous knowledge of construction methods and techniques in order to build familiarity and
confidence prior to lesson. Recall the use of different tools to construct congruent triangles in circles as
well explore ancient Greek geometric theorems.

Timing:

Introduction/Starter 10 minutes
Task & Group Work 20-30 minutes
Sequencing/Class Discussion 20-30 minutes
Accommodations 5 minutes
Extension 5 minutes
Closure 10 minutes

Introduction: (Georgia Department of Education, p 109)

Students will predict and determine the best location for an amusement park by finding the centers of a
triangle. Constructions will help students explore different centers, and present solutions emphasizing how they
found the center, the centers name, and their justification for their choice.

Notes about significance of student understanding:

Minimize introduction of these concepts before task based on expected outcomes/involvement of students.

Make sure students remember the significance of points on the perpendicular bisector of a segment
(equidistant from the endpoints of the segment) and the points on an angle bisector (equidistant from the
sides of the angle). The significance of the circumcenter and incenter can be determined through
measurement. If needed, encourage students to measure the distances from the triangle centers to the sides
and vertices of the triangle. Students can use properties of the perpendicular bisectors and angle bisectors to
justify their conjectures about the significance of the circumcenter and the incenter. Students may require
help in determining the significance of the centroid (center of gravity). Students can determine one of the
LESSON PLAN 5

significant features of the centroid through measurement (the centroid is twice the distance from the vertex
to the opposite side). Other than being the point of concurrency of the altitudes the orthocenter has no
additional significance in this task (p.109).

Starter:

Engage students in discussion about their favorite amusement parks in the local area (i.e. Zoo, Carnival,
Roller Coaster Park, Water Park, Go Kart Tracks). Allow 2-3 minutes for students to discuss their opinions and
possibly come to a consensus on the classs favorite, and then relate that park to the distance they must drive to visit
this park. For example, Six Flags over Georgia is over an hour drive from Athens, GA. Modify the following
discussion based on student preference and geographic location of the park in relation to the students. Discuss how
great it would be if the park was closer, but if that happened, then it would be further away from people in Carrolton,
GA, which is only 30 minutes from Six Flags. Thus it must be important for the owners of the park to place it in the
best place to ensure the students from different towns have access to it. In order to do this, the students will have to
think about placing the park somewhere near the center of the towns in question.

Present the task, and ask students to work in groups of 3-4 students, with the intention of having a class discussion
where each group will present its decision and justification.

Task: See Additional Teacher Resources

It is very important for students to understand that the three lines in each construction meet at a single point
which is a different center of the triangle. Some tools will have errors due to precision of the tool, which can be
discussed during presentation, but shouldnt hinder the formation of conclusions.

Solutions:

It is important to note that solutions will vary for questions 1, 3, and 4 due to the justification of the

students mathematical thinking. Each justification should be rooted in the accurate construction of the triangles

four centers in question 2. As the Georgia Department of Education (2016) suggests, For example, they may

choose the circumcenter because it is equidistant from all three cities. Or they may choose the incenter because it is

equidistant from each of the roads. They could choose the centroid instead of the circumcenter because it is closer to

two of the cities while not being that much further away from Lazytown (p.111).
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Correct Solution Method 1: (Laurens, 2016)

1. Just by looking at the map, choose the location that you think will be best for building the amusement park.

Explain your thinking.

I think that Crazytown is more likely to have citizens who will go to an amusement park than busy

town and lazy town. So I think the park should be put closer to Crazytown, approximately where the star is

in the figure above.

2. Constructing the following:

a. All 3 medians of the triangle

b. All 3 altitudes of the triangle

c. All 3 angle bisectors of the triangle

d. All 3 perpendicular bisectors of the triangle

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note - Constructions done with Geogebra

3. Choose a location for the amusement park based on the work you did in part 2. Explain why you chose this

point.

I think that the amusement park should be in between all the towns. It should be close to the three

connecting roads, so I would locate the park using the angle bisectors. This places it the same distance

from each road, as shown with the circles of the same radius below.

4. How close is the point you chose in part 3, based on mathematics, to the point you chose by observation?
LESSON PLAN 8

Its not as far away from my prediction as the other 3 constructions. Using Patty paper, I traced

my prediction and noticed that it fell on the inscribed circle in the above figure, thus my prediction was

only as far away from my new decision as each of the three roads at their closest point.

Correct Solution Method 2: (Laurens, 2016)

1. Just by looking at the map, choose the location that you think will be best for building the amusement park.

Explain your thinking.

I think that the amusement park should be directly in the center of the triangle (red star so that it

is close to all the cities and the roads. That way people dont have to drive far to get there.

2. Now you will use some mathematical concepts to help you choose a location for the tower. Investigate the

problem above by constructing the following:

a. All 3 medians of the triangle

b. All 3 altitudes of the triangle

c. All 3 angle bisectors of the triangle

d. All 3 perpendicular bisectors of the triangle

LESSON PLAN 9

note - constructions done with Compass & Straight Edge

3. Choose a location for the amusement park based on the work you did in part 2. Explain why you chose this

point.

I still think the park should be as close to all three cities as possible, so I think it should be located

by the center created by the perpendicular bisector, because it is the same distance from each of the

vertices of the triangle, shown by the circle in the picture below.

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4. How close is the point you chose in part 3, based on mathematics, to the point you chose by observation?

My estimate of where the point that was the same distance from each city was close, but the center

I chose in number 3 was closer to Lazytown since the perpendicular bisectors of I-310 and I-320 were loser

to Lazytown than I expected.

Incorrect Solution Method: (Laurens, 2016)

1. Just by looking at the map, choose the location that you think will be best for building the amusement park.

Explain your thinking.

I picked a point on one of the freeways because they make a triangle, and that menas that

anywhere you pick on or inside the triangle is as close to one vertex of the triangle as the other two.

2. Now you will use some mathematical concepts to help you choose a location for the tower. Investigate the

problem above by constructing the following:

a. All 3 medians of the triangle

b. All 3 altitudes of the triangle

c. All 3 angle bisectors of the triangle

d. All 3 perpendicular bisectors of the triangle

You have four different kinds of tools at your disposal- patty paper, MIRA, compass and straight

edge, and Geometers Sketch Pad. Use a different tool for each of your constructions
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3. Choose a location for the amusement park based on the work you did in part 2. Explain why you chose this

point.

All of the options will work except the altitude, because all the other options are inside the

triangle made by the 3 cities. I think that I would choose the perpendicular bisector because that is the

closest to my prediction, but it doesnt really matter.

4. How close is the point you chose in part 3, based on mathematics, to the point you chose by observation?

My prediction is very close because it is inside the triangle, thus it is just as close to another city
as the perpendicular bisector center is.

Monitoring Sheet:
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Possible Misconceptions:

Perpendicular Bisector is same as Altitude while the Altitude is a live perpendicular to the base of the
triangle, it must intersect with the vertex opposite of that base, and thus may not be the perpendicular
bisector.
Median is the same as Angle Bisector while this may appear correct visually, triangles with a more
obtuse angle will provide counterexample
Anywhere inside the triangle is just as close to one vertex as it is to another one this may exist in the
recognition that any point in the triangle is always closer to one vertex than to another vertex.

Questions:

o What are the properties of a Perpendicular bisector? What are the properties of an Altitude? By having the
student address the properties, they will recognize that while altitudes connect vertices of a triangle to the
opposite side perpendicularly, the perpendicular bisector does not always connect with a vertex of a
triangle.
o What are the properties of a Median? What are the properties of an Angle Bisector? Is an Angle Bisector
always a median? Can you give me an example? By again focusing students on the properties of these
constructions, we can alleviate misconceptions with construction which may at time be the same, but are
not always.
o Explain how closer to can be used as a justification for center? By asking the student to use their own
terminology to further explain their thinking and conceptualization, misconceptions can be re-aligned with
productive and accurate understanding.
o Explain your park location, how you constructed it, and mathematical reasoning for justifying its location?
By having students present their discoveries to the class, discussion can be facilitated about difference of
opinion as well as mathematical reasoning for the basis of argumentation. Questioning students thought,
processed, and logic while presenting will ensure productive discussion about the differences between each
measure of center as well as the possible justification of each one as a location for the amusement park.

Discussion:

Lead a student led group discussion about solutions by having each group present their park location, how
they constructed it, how it differed from their initial prediction, and their mathematical justification of why they
LESSON PLAN 13

chose the center of the triangle. When determining the order to presentation, use the monitoring sheet to keep track
of different solutions and rationales, and then use sequencing to scaffold the development of mathematical reasoning
and sense making. Request that students follow positive discussion behaviors while productively critiquing other
student responses. This will lead to positive discussion about the task, as well as accommodate visual and auditory
learners who may have struggled to complete the task in the allotted time. Discussion allows the entire class to build
an understanding of these constructions and the measures of center by recognizing many methods and
conceptualizations of the task.

Sequencing:

Carefully select the sequencing of group presentation based on the monitoring sheet. Since each group can have
different rationalization behind their selection, it will be important to gauge their understanding while monitoring in
order to select presentation appropriate to the advancement of the classs knowledge about the subject. I believe it is
important to begin with a justification that is well explained, and simple to comprehend to build confidence in the
students answers.

1. The first presentation should come from a group who chose the intersection of the perpendicular bisectors
of the sides of the triangle. A strong explanation is very important here, because otherwise the measure of
center will be difficult to comprehend. Discussion about choosing this center will revolve around it being
closer to two of the cities while not being further away from Lazytown (Georgia Department of Education,
p.111).
2. The second presentation should be of a form of misconception, similar to the incorrect solution (Laurens,
2016). This allows the class to discuss, critique, and participate in the reconstruction of this misconception
while also insuring other students development.
3. Given time, the third presentation should be from a group who chose the Altitudes as the location of the
amusement park. This argument is difficult to justify, thus if there is time, it will be helpful to determine
any possible misconceptions as well as highlight any reasonable explanations
4. The fourth presentation should involve a clear justification of medians, thus allowing all students to form
the recognition that the intersection of the medians is equidistant from each city.
5. The fifth presentation should involve a clear justification of angle bisectors, allowing all students to form
the understanding that the intersection of the angle bisectors is equidistant from each road between the
cities.
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Conclude Discussion:

After all presentations, allow students to reflect on their choices and their mathematical justifications.
Complete the lesson by taking a poll by raising hand how many students considered changing their answer. Attempt
to recognize students who showed well thought out logic during the presentation to give a quick explanation for
their change consideration. Relate the task back to real world application by engaging the students in a discussion
about why the park owners would need to consider all of these justifications for location. This will allow students to
recognize that mathematical concepts and knowledge are used daily to make decisions which can affect everyone.

Accommodations:

For Visual or Auditory Learners: Group with helpful students which will allow them to verbally discuss the task
and its requirements, and or allow the use of laptop to creatively investigate the concepts of the task. The use of
technology will allow both auditory and visual learners access to differentiated task explanation and recognition, and
thus allow them to productively participate in their groups discussion.

For ELL Students: Request ESOL coach to help guide student to positive participation. Allow for use of
technology in order to translate worksheet, as well as graphically manipulate the constructions with minimal
instruction.

For Gifted Learners: Allow for extension question in order to further the students exploration of concepts. Request
student use technology to create manipulate constructions to be presented or assessed electronically.

For Behavioral Disorders: Request the student use physical construction tools such as patty paper to investigate the
constructions. Also carefully select group members in order to ensure success and prevent undesired behaviors
during group work. Make sure that all group members are actively involved by informing that any random group
member may be chosen to explain their solution to the class.

Extensions:

Add extra investigation to the task. The president of the company building the park is concerned about the cost of
building roads from the towns to the park. What recommendation would you give him? Write a memo to the
president explaining your recommendation (Georgian Department of Education, p. 113).
LESSON PLAN 15

Request that the students use different methods of constructing the geometric centers of the triangles. Allow students
who used physical constructions the opportunity to work with computer software in order to visualize how the
centers change as the size and shape of the triangle between the cities change.

Can some of these constructions be used to develop different measures of center for quadrilaterals? What if there
was a 4th city named Outtatown that doesnt lie on the triangle between the original three towns? Are any of these
constructions viable methods of determining a mathematical explanation of the location of the amusement park?

This extension will allow students to further investigate measures of center and constructions of these
geometric figures in order to explore new centers. It will also require some creativity for applying previous
methods to four sided figures.

Closure/Summary:

Reflect briefly upon the importance of geometric constructions and centers of triangles, which having the
students respond to prompts about its objectives. Can you construct segments, perpendicular lines, bisectors,
medians, and altitudes I order to develop different centers of triangles. In order to connect this task to tomorrows,
present the students with the homework assignment in order to advance their critical thinking for future use.

Homework:

Ask students to research the different centers of triangles and discover the vocabulary definition name of
each of the centers they constructed and their properties, as well as bring in a statement arguing for the use of a
center different than the one they had chosen in class based on the research of the topic.

This homework allows students to research and reflect upon their thought process, and develop critical
thinking about other methods and solutions, while also building the vocabulary necessary for success with
constructions and centers of triangles.
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Connection of Lesson:

This lesson can be connected to the previous lesson by reiterating the everyday usefulness of geometric
constructions. In order to connect this lesson to the next, student will need to complete the assigned homework in
order to discover the names of the centers of the triangle. This will build into the understanding of these four centers
as the points of concurrency in the next lesson, as well as joining with the construction of diagonals to examine
parallelograms in the future.

Reflection: (Space for Reflection and Ideas for future Modification)

LESSON PLAN 17

Additional Teacher Resources:

Task Worksheet:
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LESSON PLAN 19
LESSON PLAN 20

Analysis of Cognitive Demand:

This task was taken and modified from the Georgia Standards of Excellence High School

Standards for Geometry Unit 2. (Georgia Department of Education, p.108). This is a high cognitive demand

task as defined by Smith and Stein (2011) to be a higher-level demands task that involves aspects of both

procedures with connections and doing math (p.16). Prior connections to different methods of geometric

constructions as well as different tools and resources may lead to multiple procedures students may use to

arrive at possible conclusions. By providing minimal instruction on how to construct the different centers of

triangles, and having the students to predict and draw conclusions without implicit pathways, this task requires

the student to commit to doing mathematics. Smith and Stein (2011) classify this as necessitating students to

explore and understand the nature of mathematical concepts, processes, or relationships, as well as access

relevant knowledge and experiences and make appropriate use of them in working through the task. (p.16).

Requesting the student to explain during the task demands recall of previous understanding as well as

inherently expecting the student to demonstrate analysis and reflection upon geometric concepts and theorems.

Smith and Stein (2011) also state that higher-level demand tasks involving procedures with connections can be

often represented in multiple ways, such as visual diagrams, manipulatives, symbols, and problem situations,

while making connections among multiple representations helps develop meaning (p.16). By providing

multiple resources with which to complete the task, high levels of problem solving and cognitive effort are

required in order to complete the task. Predicting, explaining, and justifying conjectures and mathematical

reasoning, along with physical construction of geometric rationale makes this learning task one of high

cognitive demand.

Relation to Previous and Subsequent Lesson:

This lesson relates to the lesson which was completed the day before because they both include using geometric
constructions to investigate properties of geometric shapes. The previous lesson will have developed these methods
of construction so that students are able to use them to discover different measures of center of a triangle. By
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connecting this conceptual building of mathematical understanding to the definitions and properties of these centers,
and then to their real world application, students will be successful in determining solutions with login and
reasoning. This builds towards using geometric construction with diagonals in order to investigate parallelograms in
the next days lesson. Constructing using multiple methods will help lead students o the realization that
parallelograms consist of two pairs of congruent triangles by exploring their constructions and relating them to this
task.
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References

Georgia Department of Education. (2016). High School Mathematics Standards Geometry Unit 2. Mathematics

Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) 9-12. Retrieved August 29, 2016, from

https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/Geometry-Unit-2.pdf

Laurens, J. (2016). Task Solutions Assignment. University Of Georgia. Instructor Hyejin Park.

Smith, M., & Stein, M. (2011). 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions. Reston, VA:

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.