Pythagorean+Theorem+Lesson

Brittany Martin Alycia Matott Andy Ranieri

I. **Overview:** The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the Pythagorean theorem, give examples, and have the students solve and understand the basic concepts. The audience for this lesson would be ninth grade students. II. **Learning Objectives:** After completing this lesson, students will be able to… a. Use the Pythagorean theorem to solve real life and math-simulated problems. b. Find the missing side to a right triangle and solve the equation. c. Be able to determine when the Pythagorean theorem applies. a. Specific Content: Apply the Pythagorean theorem to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real world and mathematical problems in two and three dimensions. b. Writing Standards: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to talk, purpose, and audience. (W4) a. **Preparation/Anticipatory Set:** In order for this lesson to be successful, students need to know what a right triangle is and how it is different from other triangles. Students would need to have some background on how to solve a basic equation when given the information. Having knowledge on square roots would also be important for this lesson. In order to capture our student’s attention, we will let them know that at the end they are to repeat back to us what they have learned in order to leave class. By doing this the students will stay engaged and awake. i. Brainstorm 1. Using the write around method, in groups, students will brainstorm what they know about the topic. After 3-5 minutes, we will pass the papers to a different group for studies to add and/or edit the papers. ii. “Shoe” Exercise: 1. Break students into four groups of five. 2. Have them use their shoes to create a right triangle. 3. Then using the measuring tapes, measure the sides of the triangle. 4. Figure out possible ways to come up with the third side without measuring. iii. Share Shoe Findings: 1. Have 1 or 2 members from each group share their findings with the class. 2. Ask students to compare what they thought their findings would be and what they actually ended up being. iv. Power Point: 1. Formally introduce the Pythagorean theorem. 2. Show short video clip. 3. Practice Problems (examples) v. White Board Activity: 1. Give each student his or her own white board. 2. Put up practice problems on the board and allow them to complete each problem individually. 3. Go around and check for the correct answers. vi. Exit Slip: 1. Have students write down on a sheet of paper: a. 2 things they learned b. Where they could use this outside the classroom. c. **Differentiation:** In order to allow everyone in the classroom to succeed, we will make adaptations such as posing easy questions and hard questions, giving each student a choice of which one they feel more comfortable doing. It would be important to let the students know that eventually everyone will be able to answer the harder question. For people who are visual learners, drawing the problem in picture form will help them understand the question. a. White Boards with erasers and markers b. Projector c. Computer d. Tape Measures e. Links: i. Mathisfun.com – This website helps find creative ideas for the lesson. This is where we found the “shoe” exercise. ii. Youtube.com – Youtube is a good website to find videos to incorporate into the lesson. The video used in this lesson was a great fit for what was being taught. iii. Purplemath.com- provides background information and important examples that could be used. VI. **Assessment:** In order to assess if the students have understood the information, there will be an exit slip where they will list two things they learned and one way that the Pythagorean theorem could be used outside the classroom.
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