• Evaluating student responses during the “Family Feud”-style game will be subjective, but must attend to whether students are reasoning their answers before responding to the question.

• Asking students to demonstrate and defend each decision in their flowchart will support the assessment of each student’s work.

Organize students into three groups. [IS.6 - Struggling Learners] Give four Shape Sheets (M-G-1-2_Shape Sheets.doc) to each group. In each group, have students name three attributes of each shape and write these attributes on the shape. [IS.7 - All Students]  [IS.8 - All Students] Then have students cover each attribute by taping a piece of tag board over the attribute.

Examples of attributes for each shape: [IS.9 - All Students]

• Right Triangle: Right angle, three sides, triangle, three angles

• Isosceles Triangle: Two congruent sides, two congruent angles, three sides, three angles

• Equilateral Triangle: All three sides the same length, three sides, all angles the same measurement [IS.10 - All Students]

• Rhombus (nonsquare): Four sides, equal sides, opposite sides parallel, opposite angles congruent

• Parallelogram: Four sides, opposite sides parallel, opposite angles congruent, opposite sides congruent

• Trapezoid: Four sides, two opposite sides parallel, quadrilateral [IS.11 - All Students]

• Rectangle: Four sides, opposite sides parallel, opposite sides congruent, congruent angles, right angles, parallelogram, quadrilateral

• Square: Four sides, congruent sides, congruent angles, right angles, parallel sides, rectangle, parallelogram, quadrilateral, rhombus

• Cone: Round base, 3-D, comes to a point, only one vertex

• Cylinder: Two round bases, side is a “rolled-up” rectangle, 3-D

• Rectangular Prism: Cube, box, six sides, opposite faces congruent, 3-D

• Pyramid: 3-D, polygon base, triangle sides, four or more faces

Family Feud Activity [IS.12 - All Students]

Several students are likely to be familiar with this game. Two teams compete against each other in turn. Each team consists of three or four players, depending on the number of groups supported by the size of the class.

At the front of the classroom, print the three attributes of each shape on the board. Tape a sheet of paper to cover each individual attribute. Make sure the paper covering each attribute can be easily removed without uncovering the other attributes.

Once all groups have finished their attribute lists, the Shape Sheets (M-G-1-2_Shape Sheets.doc) will be used to play a game similar to Family Feud. The rules are as follows: The first group selects one of their shapes. The other two groups each send a representative to a central table. One student from the first group says, “Name an attribute of this shape,” while another student from the first group holds up a picture of the shape. The group member who “rings in” first (you can have students ring a bell, raise their hand, say their name, etc.) gets a chance to provide a single attribute of the shape.

If the student correctly names one attribute of the shape that is covered, the tag board covering that attribute is removed and that student’s team has the opportunity to name the other two. The team earns one point for each correctly named attribute. If the team incorrectly guesses (either an attribute not applicable to the shape or one not listed), the other team is given the opportunity to guess the remaining attributes, earning one point for each one correctly guessed. Once all three attributes are uncovered, the process is repeated, this time using a Shape Sheet (M-G-1-2_Shape Sheets.doc) from the second group and the first and third groups guessing attributes. Repeat until all 12 Shape Sheets have been used. The team with the most points is the winning team (prizes optional).

Divide students into pairs, [IS.13 - Struggling Learners] and give each pair of students a blank sheet of paper. Tell students that the sides of the paper form lines, but these are special types of lines. Ask the class the following:

“Do the top and bottom of the paper intersect?” (no)

“We have a special name for lines that do not intersect ever. Does anyone know what that name is?” (parallel)

“Parallel lines are lines that never intersect, even if the line could be drawn on forever. Parallel lines are denoted with the following symbol : [IS.14 - All Students] Look around the classroom; there are many parallel lines in this room. Can anyone tell me what they are?” (Give students time to look around and answer; [IS.15 - All Students] answers will vary depending on the objects present in the room.)

“Now look at the paper again. Look at the left hand side of the paper and the top side of the paper. As you can see, these line segments intersect; however, they intersect in a special way. Can anyone tell me what is special about this intersection?” (the sides intersect at right angles)

“The two sides intersect at a right angle. We have a special name for lines that intersect at right angles. Does anyone know what that name is?” (perpendicular)

“Lines that intersect at right angles are perpendicular, and are denoted with the following symbol: . Take a look around the room, and tell me the perpendicular lines you see” (Answers will vary depending on what is in the room, guide students as needed.)

Hand each group an identical sheet of paper to the first, and tell students the following: “Compare this sheet of paper to your first. Notice that for each sheet of paper the tops are the same length. The bottoms are also the same length. And, in addition, the right and left sides are all the same length. These two pieces of paper are the exact same in side measurements and angle measurements. We have a name for shapes where the corresponding side and angle measurements are all the same. Does anyone know what that name is?” (congruent)

“Shapes where the corresponding sides all have the same measure and the corresponding angles are the same are called congruent. Congruent objects are denoted with the following symbol: .

Divide the class into pairs, and give each pair a list of quadrilaterals (M-G-1-2_Quadrilateral Set.doc). “I have given each pair a list of different quadrilaterals. What you are going to do is put the shapes from the list in order from general to most specific. Think about this activity in terms of vehicles. The category of vehicle is general; it is anything you can drive or ride. In the same way, all the shapes on the list are quadrilaterals; this is a general category. If we were to be more specific within the category of vehicle, we might list a type of vehicle, like a car. To be even more specific, we could name a make of car, like a Honda, followed by a model, like an Accord. Do you see how we have gone from the general category of vehicle to the specific model of car? All vehicles are not cars, and all cars are not Honda Accords, but all cars are vehicles…as are trucks and buses and motorcycles; in the same way, all quadrilaterals are polygons, and all rectangles are quadrilaterals, but not all quadrilaterals are rectangles.” [IS.16 - All Students]

Once students have listed the quadrilaterals in order from general to most specific, have each pair create a list of yes/no questions that identify the similarities and differences between the shapes next to one another on the list. [IS.17 - All Students] For example, when examining the difference between a parallelogram and rectangle, students might ask, “Do rectangles have two sets of parallel lines?”

These questions should then be used to construct a decision flowchart that illustrates the differences and similarities and hierarchy among the various quadrilaterals. [IS.18 - All Students] A partial sample decision flowchart has been provided for your reference (M-G-1-2_Sample Decision Flowchart.doc). Discuss with students how they organized their shape names. Although there is slight room for variance in the order, have students arrive at an agreed upon order. Then, starting at the beginning of the decision flowchart, have a few groups present their questions and have the whole class select the best wording for each question. [IS.19 - All Students] The final product is a decision flowchart for quadrilaterals that can be posted in the classroom.

Have students individually identify an object in the classroom that is a quadrilateral. [IS.20 - Struggling Learners] Then have them use the decision flowchart developed by the class to determine what type of quadrilateral it is. Have them answer each question on the decision flowchart in order to determine the type of quadrilateral; students should record the questions and answers and also explanations of their answers where appropriate (e.g., “The blackboard is/is not a square because it does not have four congruent sides. Or the window or wall is a square because all four sides are congruent.”).

Extension:

• Suggest several different and more complex shapes, both two and three dimensions and ask students to identify some of their attributes.
  Two-dimensional examples:

• regular pentagon [five congruent sides, five congruent angles, five congruent diagonals]

• nonregular hexagon [six sides, six angles, eight diagonals]

• Three-dimensional example:

• triangular prism [five faces, six vertices, two parallel faces]