Everybody's Got An Angle
By DW Davis
@DWDavis (25797)
United States
January 3, 2017 3:35pm CST
Or should I say, there's an angle for everybody.
Today was the first day of school for 2017 and my classes started off reviewing what they'd learned in prior grades about angles. I say "reviewing" optimistically. If some of them paid no more attention in earlier grades than they do these days, I'm sure most of what we covered today was brand new to them.
We began with the 4 basic types of angles: acute, obtuse, right, and straight. We looked at examples of each and defined each based on the range of their measurements. Some of the students recognized and correctly identified them right off. Some acted like they've never seen them before.
Once I felt confident all the students understood the 4 basic angles, I did an exercise with them using clock faces. I demonstrated how one could use a clock face to determine the measure of the angle between the clock hands by dividing the number of degrees in a circle (360) by the numbers on the clock (12). This gives a measure of 30 degrees between each number on the clock. I didn't give the students this information. I posted a series of questions on the board and let them work it out for themselves. They enjoyed this activity.
I collected their clock work, and we went on to discuss adjacent angles, vertical angles, congruent angles, complimentary angles, and supplementary angles. Tomorrow they will have a quiz on the terms we learned today, before we go on to more traditional ways of measuring angles.
Did you enjoy geometry in school?
12 people like this
14 responses
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
3 Jan 17
@DWDavis - I never took any of those. Why I didn't have to I have no idea.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
3 Jan 17
Oh God no! Geometry and algebra were the bane of my existence.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Jan 17
@DWDavis I think I will be ditching class!
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
3 Jan 17
Not the class, because the teacher did not teach. I enjoy the idea of geometry, and understand most of what you just wrote about, but that was learned in a second year algebra class where the teacher was terrific.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
3 Jan 17
When I was in school, Geometry class was bracketed by Algebra 1 and 2. I struggled with Algebra 1 because the teacher never bothered to explain anything, she just expected us to read the examples and figure it out for ourselves. My Geometry teacher was great. I went from Cs to As in Math. Then Algebra 2 dragged me back down. The teacher was okay, but I struggled with the concepts.
Oddly enough, years later, when I took Cost Accounting in college, all that Algebra started to make sense. All I needed was some context.
@suziecat7 (3349)
• Asheville, North Carolina
4 Jan 17
I never was much of a math person but your teaching method might have made it more interesting to me.
@DianneN (254949)
• United States
3 Jan 17
I enjoyed geometry more than algebra when I was in school. However, I loved teaching my special ed. students geometry. Everything had to be made relatable to them. Example: acute angle was little and therefore a cute angle. I used a clock, too. I wonder often if they remember.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40230)
• United States
3 Jan 17
Let's just say that math, is a 4 letter word
1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (52907)
• Mojave, California
4 Jan 17
I hate it and still why I suck at pool or billiards to do this day. That is a good way to teach them with the clock. That is how one of my teachers taught us in school and about the only part I think I passed. lol
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
3 Jan 17
Hopefully, you will bring them up to speed!
Geometry is great!
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
4 Jan 17
That was a great basic review class. I managed to get through with only Algebra, no geometry. It would have come in handy at times dealing with land measurements as did in the title insurance business. I learned a lot about angles playing pool and snooker.
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
4 Jan 17
Couldn't stand it. In fact, I couldn't stand anything to do with maths, something which I still feel to this day!
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
3 Jan 17
I'm a quilter. I use a lot more mathematics and geometry than I ever anticipated when I was attending school.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Jan 17
I did quite enjoy both geometry and algebra. I can' remember any of the trig I leant bar cos, sine and tan. This sounds a fun way to learn about angles.
