Ways to Look at Quadrilaterals
10 min
Narrative
This Warm-up prompts students to notice the attributes of the parallelograms in a brick pattern. It gives the teacher an opportunity to hear how students use terminology from previous lessons to talk about parallel sides, angles, and side lengths.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “How many bricks have 2 pairs of parallel sides?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 2–3 minutes: partner discussion
- Record responses.
Student Task
How many bricks have 2 pairs of parallel sides?
Sample Response
- There are 9 visible bricks with two pairs of parallel sides.
- Students may argue that if the picture was expanded there would be more.
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Which bricks have only one pair of parallel sides?” (Each brick that lays horizontally and is not triangular has one pair of parallel sides. The slanted bricks cut off by the edges of the image also have one pair.)
- “Do you think all figures with more than 3 sides have at least 1 pair of parallel sides?” (No, but this image does not show any examples. There are some figures with more than 3 sides with no pairs of parallel sides.)
Standards
Addressing
- 4.G.1·Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
- 4.G.2·Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles. (Two-dimensional shapes should include special triangles, e.g., equilateral, isosceles, scalene, and special quadrilaterals, e.g., rhombus, square, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid.)
- 4.G.A.1·Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
- 4.G.A.2·Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.
20 min
15 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Ways to Look at Quadrilaterals
10 min
Narrative
This Warm-up prompts students to notice the attributes of the parallelograms in a brick pattern. It gives the teacher an opportunity to hear how students use terminology from previous lessons to talk about parallel sides, angles, and side lengths.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “How many bricks have 2 pairs of parallel sides?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 2–3 minutes: partner discussion
- Record responses.
Student Task
How many bricks have 2 pairs of parallel sides?
Sample Response
- There are 9 visible bricks with two pairs of parallel sides.
- Students may argue that if the picture was expanded there would be more.
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Which bricks have only one pair of parallel sides?” (Each brick that lays horizontally and is not triangular has one pair of parallel sides. The slanted bricks cut off by the edges of the image also have one pair.)
- “Do you think all figures with more than 3 sides have at least 1 pair of parallel sides?” (No, but this image does not show any examples. There are some figures with more than 3 sides with no pairs of parallel sides.)
Standards
Addressing
- 4.G.1·Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
- 4.G.2·Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles. (Two-dimensional shapes should include special triangles, e.g., equilateral, isosceles, scalene, and special quadrilaterals, e.g., rhombus, square, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid.)
- 4.G.A.1·Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
- 4.G.A.2·Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.