Hands-On Geometry: Constructions With a Straightedge and Compass (Grades 4-6)

by Christopher M. Freeman

Overview

Put compasses into your students' hands and behold the results! Hands-On Geometry teaches students to draw accurate constructions of equilateral triangles, squares, and regular hexagons, octagons, and dodecagons; to construct kites and use their diagonals to construct altitudes, angle bisectors, perpendicular bisectors, and the inscribed and circumscribed circles of any triangle; to construct perpendicular lines and rectangles, parallel lines, and parallelograms; and to construct a regular pentagon and a golden rectangle.

Students will enjoy fulfilling high standards of precision with these hands-on activities. Hands-On Geometry provides the background students need to become exceptionally well prepared for a formal geometry class. The book provides an easy way to differentiate instruction: Because the lessons are self-explanatory, students can proceed at their own pace, and the finished constructions can be assessed at a glance.

Grades 4-6

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593634186
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/15/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	84
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

Christopher Freeman holds a bachelor's degree in math and a master's degree in math education from the University of Chicago. He teaches math to grades 6-12 at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Freeman also teaches math enrichment classes in the Worlds of Wisdom and Wonder and Project programs for gifted children in the Chicago area, sponsored by the Center for Gifted at National-Louis University. His books are the fruits of curricula he has developed for gifted children in these programs and in the regular classroom.

All of Freeman's activities involve students in inductive thinking. Students are presented with an intriguing situation or set of special cases, and they formulate conjectures about the fundamental mathematical properties that govern them. Students in Freeman's classes practice inductive thinking when they find winning strategies for math games, formulate conjectures about the structure of many-pointed stars, or figure out which polygons can fit together to form polyhedra—and why.

Freeman is a regular presenter at the annual conventions of the National Association for Gifted Children. He contributed a chapter on math curriculum in the NAGC publication Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Students, edited by Joan Franklin Smutny. He has published three books with Prufrock Press, Nim: Variations and Strategies, Drawing Stars and Building Polyhedra, and Compass Constructions.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Lines and Arcs Chapter 2: Kites and Basic Constructions Chapter 3: Centers of a Triangle Chapter 4: Perpendiculars and Rectangles Chapter 5: Parallels and Parallelograms Chapter 6: Constructing Triangles Chapter 7: The Infinitesimal and the Golden Ratio Answers Common Core State Standards Alignment

Editorial Reviews

Hands-On Geometry: Constructions with a Straightedge and Compass is an educational resource for math teachers with students in grades 4-6, featuring challenging drawing projects meant to be completed with a simple straightedge and compass. From equilateral triangles to squares, regular hexagons, octagons, dodecagons, parallelograms, regular pentagons, golden rectangles, and more, geometry students will get a hands-on appreciation for the laws that govern these shapes and the opportunity to internalize basic mathematical principles in more than one way. The ready-to-use, reproducible activities are an excellent supplement to any geometry teacher's course work, making Hands-On Geometry highly recommended for grade school mathematics classrooms everywhere. ,James A Cox,Midwest Book Review, 4/17/10
I continue to be impressed by the materials Prufrock Press sends me for review . . . Using only a compass and a straight edge, the seven chapters of this book take your children through geometric 2-dimensional constructions. They learn how to correctly create perpendiculars, parallels, kites, triangles, quadrilaterals and more . . . The directions were so clear that it didn't matter that I never remembered doing this even in high school geometry. If only geometry HAD been this "hands-on" in high school, I might have enjoyed it more! But this isn't even intended for high schoolers! It's written for upper elementary and middle school children.,Cynthia West,Our Journey Westward, 4/1/10
Looking for construction instruction? This the book for you! It teaches students how to accurately draw everything from equilateral triangles to hexagons, dodecagons, parallelograms, and golden rectangles.,Ann Sumpter,Learning Resources for Successful Teaching, 9/1/10

From the Publisher