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Your teacher will give you a set of cards. Group them into pairs of similar figures. For each pair, determine:
a similarity statement.
the scale factor between the similar figures.
the missing lengths.
If students need help visualizing the similar triangles, ask them what they know stays the same between similar triangles (angle measures). Then, encourage them to rotate the cards to line up corresponding angles to better see the corresponding sides and the scale factor.
The purpose of this discussion is for students to revisit how to find scale factors between similar triangles and use them to find side lengths.
For each pair of similar triangles that students found, ask a group what they wrote for their similarity statement. Then ask the whole class if anyone could suggest a different way of writing the similarity statement. (The letters can be in a different permutation as long as corresponding vertices are in the same order.)
Then invite a group to share what they found for the scale factor between the similar triangles and how they found the value. Follow their response by asking the whole class if there could be another scale factor that applies or another way to get the scale factor. (The reciprocal of the scale factor would also work. Because there are many ratios that are equivalent in similar triangles, students may use different pairs of values in different orders.)
Invite students to relate to the context by asking if any students have a quilt that is special to their family. Quilts are an ancient practical art that have been used for a variety of things, including telling a family history and raising money to support various causes.
Tell students to close their books or devices (or to keep them closed). Arrange students in groups of 2. Use Three Reads to support reading comprehension and sense-making about this problem. Display only the problem stem and image without revealing the questions.
Give students time to complete the rest of the activity, and follow with a whole-class discussion.
Here is a quilt design made of right isosceles triangles. The smallest squares in the center have an area of 1 square unit.
Find the dimensions of the triangles.
If students struggled to use the Pythagorean Theorem in a previous lesson:
A key point to emphasize in this discussion is that ratios in which each ratio compares side lengths within each figure are also equivalent across similar figures. That is, for a triangle with side lengths , and a similar triangle with corresponding side lengths , we have equivalent ratios such as .
Invite students to share strategies for scaling the figure up from a baby blanket to a quilt for a queen-size bed.
Here are some questions for discussion: