Project AMP Dr.

Antonio Quesada – Director, Project AMP

Incenter of a Triangle

Lesson Summary:
Students will discover the properties of an incenter of a triangle. The incenter is found by
constructing the angle bisectors of the angles of a triangle.

Key Words:
incenter, incircle, inscribed, angle bisectors, concurrency

Background Knowledge:
Students should be familiar with the tools in Geometry software. Students also should
understand the meanings of inscribed and angle bisectors.

NCTM Standards:
(4) Geometry; Standard 7 – Geometry from a synthetic perspective

Learning Objectives:
1. To apply understanding of angle bisector into creating the incenter of a
triangle
2. To understand the basic characteristics of the incenter and incircle of a
triangle

Materials:
Cabri II
One copy of the lab worksheet per person

Suggested Procedures:
• Organize students into groups of 2-3
• Ask students to define the center of a triangle. Discuss how to draw a circle
around the triangle and inside the triangle.
• Have students complete the lab worksheet.
Project AMP Dr. Antonio Quesada – Director, Project AMP

Incenter of a Triangle

Team members: _________________________________________________________

File name: _____________________________________________________________

Lab Goals:
Students will discover the relationship between the incenter of a triangle and its incircle.
Students will also find points of concurrency and work with angle bisectors.

Investigation:
1. Create a triangle ?ABC (use triangle tool)
2. Construct an angle bisector at ∠A, ∠B, and ∠C (use angle bisector tool)

3. Label the intersection of all angle bisectors point M (use label tool)
___ ___
4. Create perpendicular lines from point I to the three sides AB, AC, and
___
BC and label the points X, Y, and Z respectively. (use perpendicular bisector tool)
5. Create segments along the perpendicular bisectors from point I to each side of
the triangle and measure their lengths (use segment tool / measure tool)

___ ___ ___

6. What do you notice about the lengths of MX, MY, and MZ?
Project AMP Dr. Antonio Quesada – Director, Project AMP

7. Move the vertices A, B, or C. What do you observe?

8. Construct a circle with center point I and radius as one of the perpendicular
segments. (use circle tool)

(This circle is called the incircle of the triangle!)

9. Move points A, B, or C again. What do you observe about the circle?

11. Is the incircle tangent to the three sides? Why?

12 What observations can you make about the incenter of a triangle?

* If you are not familiar with Cabri’s tools, press F1 on the keyboard. A help
menu for each tool selected will appear on the bottom of the screen.
Project AMP Dr. Antonio Quesada – Director, Project AMP

Journal Activity
Incenter of a Triangle

1. What was your favorite thing about this activity?

2. What was the most challenging thing?

3. What did you gain the most confidence about through completing this
lesson?

4. Where do you possibly see yourself using this knowledge in the future?