Name______________________________
Date ____________________________
Lab: Investigating Properties of Kites
Materials
 Tracing Paper
 Straightedge
Vocabulary
A kite is a quadrilateral with exactly two pairs of distinct congruent consecutive sides.
If you construct two different isosceles triangles on opposite sides of a common base and then remove the
base, you have constructed a kite. In an isosceles triangle, the angle between the congruent sides is called the
vertex angle. Therefore let’s call the two angles between each pair of congruent sides of a kite the vertex
angles of the kite and let’s call the other pair the non-vertex angles. What properties can you discover about
kites? Let’s investigate.
Investigation
In this investigation you will look at the diagonals of a kite. Perform the following steps (the first two give you a
kite), then compare your results with your group.
1. On a patty paper, draw two segments of different lengths as shown.
2. Fold through the endpoints and trace the two segments on the back of the patty paper.
3. Compare the size of each pair of opposite angles in your kite by folding an angle onto the opposite angle.
Are the vertex angles congruent? Are the non-vertex angles congruent? Share your observations with others
near you and complete the conjecture.
Kite Angles Conjecture: The _________________ angles of a kite are __________________.
4. Draw the diagonals. How are the diagonals related? Share your observations and complete the conjecture.
Kite Diagonals Conjecture: The diagonals of a kite are ________________________.
Geometry – Quadrilaterals
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5. Compare the lengths of the segments on both diagonals. Does either diagonal bisect the other? Share your
observations and complete the conjecture.
Kite Diagonal Bisector Conjecture: The diagonals connecting the vertex angles of a kite are
the________________ of the other diagonal.
6. Fold along both diagonals. Does either diagonal bisect any angles? Share your observations with others
and complete the conjecture.
Kite Angle Bisector Conjecture: The ____________ angles of a kite are _________ by a
___________.
Geometry – Quadrilaterals
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