The Wonderful world of Triangulation!

Call me closeted, but I've never seen this, much less heard of this before our lesson on it. Basically, we take a polygon and choose one vertex. From that vertex we draw diagonal lines to the next vertex, creating triangle within the polygon. Do this for every vertex to see how many triangles a polygon is composed of. Check out my class notes to see what I mean, I hope it blows your mind like it blew mine!

The top part of my notes demonstrates drawing diagonal lines from one vertex to the others to create the triangles. As you can see, there is a pattern. Can you see it? Check out the far right column where we find out the sums of the interior angles. See it now? As you scan down, you can see that with each angle that is added to the polygon, a measurement of 180 degrees is added to the one preceding. Neat, right? Math is so much fun when things like this click! Until next time cutie  πs!

This post is a little selfish because I mainly wanted to remember how to figure this out. I hope it comes in handy to you too though! Straight from my class notes, this table is to help you determine some information on regular polygons. Given is the name of the polygon, the number of edges, how to find the measurement of each exterior angle, the measurement of each interior angle, and last but not least. the sum of the interior angles for that specific polygon. (Don't mind my little note to self there;) )Practice, practice, practice friends and remember to have fun as you learn these concepts.

We discussed triangles recently and their properties. Did you know that there are various types of triangles? Fun fact, all triangles must equal 180 degrees in order to be considered a triangle. Our different type of triangles are going to be determined by their angles or there sides.

When taking into consideration a triangle's angle, a triangle will be one of the following, acute, obtuse, or right. When taking into consideration the length of the sides of the triangle, a triangle will be, Equilateral, Isosceles, or Scalene. Let me show you what I mean by this!

Want some more practice in classifying triangles? Follow the link to play a fun sorting game! 

Let's Talk Lines!
Lines can be tricky, especially when it comes to their relationships with one another. First thing's first, a line has no thickness and goes on forever and ever! They are defined by the points that are located on them. If we were to say that we have points that are collinear, this would mean that we have two or more points which lie on the same line. See below! Points P, Q, and R are what we would call...you guessed it! Collinear!

As for their relationships, are they skew, parallel, intersecting, perpendicular? I found a great way to get the kids involved in showing these relationships between lines. You want to get them to do anything hands-on, anything fun. Who says math cannot be fun?! 

I personally like this small activity because it's not expensive AT all, and can easily be set up in journals or even worksheets. All you need is tape or glue, toothpicks, and stickers. Voila! A simple, hands-on activity to help demonstrate lines.

Introduction to Geometry

This particular post was supposed to be updated about a week ago while it was fresh in my mind, but better late than never! In this session we discussed the basics in Geometry. We covered common terms, types of angles, what it means to be a polygon, and different types of triangles! That's a lot to take on in one session, but it was fun! 

A helpful poster for you to have around for your students as they learn what a polygon is.

For those who enjoy a fun and educational song, here's a rap from our cool friend, The Math Guy! We discussed quadrilaterals in this session, which can be tricky because many of them share the same qualities, but this catchy rap can certainly help you to differentiate the different quadrilaterals. Enjoy, until next time cutie πs!

 

Some Hello's and Thank You's...

Welcome to my math blog, cutie  πs! 

First of all, hello and thank you for taking the time to venture into our world of elementary 

math with me. Let's rewind and tell you how I arrived at this destination in life. Ever since
I could remember, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved my animals and I wanted to help 

others' animals be well. One week into my freshman year of college, I changed my mind. I 

no longer wanted to do that. I was amazed at how quickly my life's goals had changed.
After that, I decided that I wanted to be an early childhood education major. That last
about 6 months, and once again my life took another turn. Next on the list of musical majors, 

I wanted to be a music major. I love performing, but I knew that if I made this my major, I 

would likely lose my passion for it. This transformed into music education, which again 

something changed my mind...the lack of piano skills and hand eye coordination to be 

honest. That bring us to 2013, when I realized that all the jobs I loved, had been working 

with kids and that no matter how many times I strayed away, I always came back to 

education. That's when it hit me, education is where I needed to be. My major is now 

Elementary Education. For those of you who aren't sure exactly where you are meant to
 be, just give it some time. Don't panic! What is meant to be will happen and when it does,
 you'll be glad you didn't force yourself into something else you thought was kind of neat. I
love what I'm doing now! I recently received my AA from Mesa Community College in the spring of

2014, and began my journey of earning a BA in Elementary Education through Northern

 Arizona University, this fall of 2014! Go Lumberjacks!

Little tidbits about me are:

• I love to sing.
• Karaoke is one of my most loved hobbies.
• I have a significant other who has always had my back in this roller coaster of life.
• We have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Captain and he's the light of our lives.
• I was not a math fan, but the more courses I take, the more I love math!
• My dream first teaching job would be as a kindergarten teacher in a district nearby, fingers crossed!
• Gail Seibolt told me, "You know what you want but you'll love what you get," in regards to landing teaching jobs. I wholeheartedly believe her.
• I love to craft and doodle on any surface I come in contact with.
• I enjoy all things hands-on.
• I aspire to inspire.
• I have two left feet, but that doesn't stop my interest in wanting to learn how to country dance.
• I currently work in bookkeeping at Home Depot.
• I try to better my baking and cooking abilities.
• I love mermaids.
• I love all things Disney...especially Frozen and The Little Mermaid.
• I'm so grateful to be here.

This is just the beginning, there is so much more to come. As I learn and relearn some neat math concepts, I'll be sure to share them with you all. Until next time, cutie πs!