QUADRILATERALS
Today's
lesson is on four-sided polygons, also known as QUADRILATERALS. You will be
using virtual geoboards, courtesy of the National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives, to practice creating five different quadrilaterals and,
hopefully, get a better understanding of their similarities and differences.
The five
quadrilaterals that we will be looking at are: the square, the rectangle, the
parallelogram, the rhombus, and the trapezoid.
Take a look
at the following figures:
A) 
. B) 
. C) 
.
D) 
. E) 
.
Now click on the "Magic Quad" below to be transported to
the NLVB site, then select the FIRST "geoboard" listing to
access your virtual geoboard. Practice creating these shapes and then answer
the questions at the bottom of this page.
Helpful
Hint: Print out a copy of this page so you will have a reference to look out
while making your shapes. Also, be sure to maximize the window on the geoboard
page so you will not be distracted by the companion questions offered, as they
are unrelated to this activity.
The Magic Quad
Now see if you can figure out which one is which (Put your answers
on a separate piece of paper):
1) A square has four equal sides and four right angles. This
description matches figure ____.
2) A rectangle has two pairs of opposite sides that are parallel and
four right angles. This description matches figure ____.
3) A parallelogram has two pairs of opposite sides that are
parallel. This description matches figure ____.
4) A rhombus is a parallelogram with four equal sides. This
description matches figure ____.
5) A trapezoid has only one pair of parallel sides. This description
matches figure ____.