Ms. Mofield’s 7th grade math class: block period (1.5 hours)
Purpose: For students to appreciate the use of technology tools and hand held tools and
the relationships found within construction. Students will use these findings in other
geometry classes and real world events.
Objective: Students will individually construct a triangle (flag) using appropriate
technology (GSP) to understand the difference between drawing and constructing.
Essential Question(s):
1. Are drawing and constructing different?
2. How does drawing differ from construction (or vice versa)?
3. What happens in GSP when you move objects that are drawn? Why?
4. What happens in GSP when you move objects that are constructed? Why?
Procedure…
Attention Getter: 3 students will come to the board and draw a geometric object. 3
different students will come to the board and construct geometric objects. (5 min)
Body:
 Students will write in their journal problems and ease seen in student examples of
drawing and constructing. Students will predict meaning of the two terms in their
journal entry. (10 min)
 Students will share their ideas as the teacher creates a post-it chart, dividing the
ideas under the categories draw and construct. Teacher will read the ideas to the
class and tell students to keep these ideas in mind as we work on our activities for
the day. (5 min)
 Students will go to the computer lab and complete an activity on GSP: (30 min)
- teacher will review rules of the computer lab
- students are already familiar with properties of GSP and know how to use
the program. Teacher will review some features and tools in GSP and
answer any questions before going down to the lab.
- Students will open up the unfinished boat GSP activity that the teacher has
constructed to fit the needs of the class and the 7th grade curriculum.
- Before beginning, students will watch the teacher give the directions for
the assignment. Teacher will show students the boat activity that she has
completed, and students will watch the boat move along the water.
Teacher will remind students ways to move the boat along the waves of
the water. Teacher will explain to students that they are to make their own
flag on their boat. (Students are already familiar with construction and
drawing tools and will recall how to use the features.) Once the flag has
been created, students will move their boat and observe what happens.
Students will understand that their boat has to move together, certain parts
of the boat can’t be left dangling in the wind. Students are to figure out
how to keep this from happening (caution: this is where many students
will start to discover the difference between drawing and constructing.
Guide students through questioning their process when they get frustrated
and/or stuck) Students must show their boat to the teacher after
completing the flag and movement steps in order to receive credit for
Ms. Mofield’s 7th grade math class: block period (1.5 hours)
today’s lesson
- Students will construct their boat flag.
- Students who finish early and have received a check mark for correct
completion can open up a new document and explore ways to construct
other geometric shapes.
 Students will come back to the room and discuss the difference between drawing
and constructing objects. Students will share what they found (how they got their
boat to move with their flag) using GSP. Students will understand that in GSP,
drawing uses the free-hand toolbar tools, but doesn't build in any relationships
among the objects drawn. When objects are drawn, the figure is distorted and
does not remain the same. Construction builds relationships, which are
maintained when points are dragged. Discussion will bring about ways to
construct and the relationships, such as parallel and perpendicular lines, angle and
line bisectors, copying segments and angles, constructing line through points…
Students will look back on the chart completed before the computer lab and
discuss accepted and unaccepted ideas. (10min)
 Knowing the difference between drawing and constructing, students will complete
a worksheet in which they construct a parallelogram, a right triangle, and a
pentagon to get additional practice and have an opportunity to see multiple
representations. Students will use rulers and compasses to do so. (20min)
Closure: Students will discuss when constructing objects in the real world is better than
drawing objects. (ex. floor plans) (5 min)
Transition: Students will be asked to bring in rectangular/square/parallelogram objects
around their house for tomorrows lesson.
Assessment: Teacher will assess this activity through student observation and by reading
student journals. Through observation, teacher will check to make sure that students are
using the correct GSP and given classroom tools to construct object(s). Students receive a
check mark for completing the flag. (Students are not counted wrong if they do not
create a flag because this is a discovery activity. Not all students will discover the lesson
through GSP, but through listening to others and/or doing the worksheet) The worksheet
will be taken up for a formal grade. Teacher will look to see if a compass and/or ruler
were used by using the same tools, just working backwards to check work.
Evaluation: If 85% of my students seem to understand the difference through
conversation and on their worksheet, then the lesson does not have to be re-taught.
Standards:
 M7G1: Students will construct plane figures that meet given conditions.
 NM-GEO.6-8.4: Use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to
solve problems.