Satellite Academy Course Description

Instructor: Phyllis Eilenfeldt Course
Title: It's Plane Geometry
Subject Area: Mathematics
Textbooks: Number Power Four (Geometry), Contemporary Books, 1983, and Discovering Geometry: An Inductive Approach, Michael Serra, Key Curriculum Press, 1997.

Focus: The focus of this course is to provide students with a rich visual as well as intellectual understanding of the applications of geometry in the mathematical world. Students will make use of compasses, rulers, and graphing techniques in order to develop comparative relationships between and within geometric shapes. Students will work individually and in small groups to discover and apply the rules which govern the principles of triangles, quadrilaterals, types of angle conjunctions, and geometric solids. Students will become adept at using the formulas derived from discoveries to calculate perimeter, area and volume.

Skills developed during the semester will include:

1. Using rulers and compasses to draw geometric figures.

2. Using graphic representations of figures to determine perimeter, area and volume.

3. Development of the Pythagorean Theorem and applying this theorem to a variety of real life situations.

4. Using compasses to construct and copy angles and figures.

5. Developing and applying algebraic solutions to problems involving perimeter and area of geometric forms.

6. Recognizing the application of linear formulas on the coordinate plane; locating points and drawing liens and curves on the coordinate plane.

7. Developing and applying the midpoint and distance formulas to lines drawn on the coordinate plane.

8. Describing and becoming familiar with language of geometry through oral dialogue and classroom presentation.

Assessment of student achievement in this course will be based on tests, classroom participation, and presentations as outlined in the student contract attached to this outline.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards for grades 9-12 developed in this course include:

1. Standard2: Mathematics as communication Students are encouraged to reflect on their mathematical thinking both orally and in journals. Students are encouraged to recognize the economy, power and elegance of mathematical, both algebraic and symbolic, notation in solving problems related to geometry.

2. Standard3: Mathematics as reasoning Students are encouraged to construct simply valid arguments for the relationships among part of a problem and for related solutions to similar types of problems.