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Lesson Plan: Lesson plans were written by Maryland mathematics educators and could be used when teaching the concepts.

Goal 2 Geometry, Measurement, And Reasoning

Expectation 2.1 The student will represent and analyze two- and three-dimensional figures using tools and technology when appropriate.

Indicator 2.1.3 The student will use transformations to move figures, create designs, and/or demonstrate geometric properties.

Lesson Content

Translations

Objective

The students will be able to identify the similarities and differences between the images and pre-images generated by translations, apply translations to determine coordinates of the vertices of figures, and apply translations to real-world situations.

Approximate Time

45-minute lesson

Materials Needed

Lesson Structure

    Essential Questions

    What are the similarities and differences between the images and pre-images generated by translations?
     
    What is the relationship between the coordinates of the vertices of a figure and the coordinates of the vertices of the figure's image generated by translations?
     
    How can translations be applied to real-world situations?

    Development of Ideas

    Investigate translations using patty paper.
     
    Worksheet: Translations
     
    Activity (Optional)
     
    Investigate and draw translations on a coordinate plane using dynamic geometry software.
     
    Worksheet (Cabri): Translations and Coordinate Geometry

    Closure

    Summary questions
     
    If you pick up a paper clip and move it from your desk to the desk next to you, is this a translation? Why or why not?
     
    Answer: It is a translation because the shape and the size of the paper clip stays the same, only it position changes.
     
    If you take a rubber band and stretch it tight, is this transformation of the rubber band an isometry? Why or why not?
     
    Answer: This is not an isometry because the shape of the rubber band changes.

Additional Resources

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Navigating Through Geometry in Grades 6-8, 2002, Chapter 3 - Transformations and Symmetry, pp. 43-58.
 
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Navigating Through Geometry in Grades 9-12, 2001, Chapter 1 - Transforming Our World, pp. 9-26.
 
Dixon, Juli, Movements in the Plane: Conjecturing about Properties of Transformations, NCTM Math On-Line January 2003
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