NAME: Rachel Cohen

GRADE LEVEL: 5th

TITLE OF LESSON: Angles of Polygons

Textbook Lesson Analysis Paragraph:

The objective of this lesson called Angles of Polygons is for students to see that as a polygon
increases by 1 side length, the sum of the angles increases by 180 degrees. This lesson is
from chapter three of Everyday Mathematics, a chapter focusing on geometry explorations.
Prior to teaching this lesson, the students will have learned about different types of angle
measures including acute, obtuse, right, and reflex angles, congruent triangles, properties of
polygons, regular tessellations, and how to use a protractor and compass. This lesson
requires students to draw upon the previous lessons—making observations about convex
and concave polygons, and determining angles of polygons with various numbers of side
lengths (i.e. quadrangles, pentagons and hexagons). The students will therefore need to be
able to measure angles accurately and understand the content covered in the previous
lessons. For certain angle measurements, angle measures might vary by a few degrees but
this is expected and will not affect student understanding or the outcome of the lesson.
Some students might confuse certain terms, such as concave and convex polygons, and
quadrangles, pentagons and hexagons. I do not believe the context will alienate or create
barriers for any of the students to engage with the mathematics. The students will be
working in groups for the majority of the lesson so they will be instructed to help each other,
when necessary, and we will also have ample discussion time.

Lesson Plan:

Purpose/Rationale

The mathematical content of this lesson focuses on investigating and comparing the
measurement sums of interior angles of polygons, measuring angles with a protractor,
finding medians of data sets, and drawing conclusions based on collected data. The
instructional purpose of the lesson focuses on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency
and adaptive reasoning. Students are using their comprehension of mathematical concepts
previously taught and trying to find angle sums for triangles, quadrangles, pentagons, and
hexagons. In order to accomplish these tasks successfully students need to demonstrate
procedural fluency with measuring angles accurately. In the challenge question in the exit-
slip, students will use adaptive reasoning to reflect on their work and try to explain how to
find the angle sum for any polygon.

Curriculum and connections to Standards/Benchmarks

State Standards:
G.GS.05.02 Measure angles with a protractor and classify them as acute, right, obtuse, or
straight.
G.GS.05.04 Find unknown angles in problems involving angles on a straight line, angles
surrounding a point, and vertical angles.
G.GS.05.06 Understand why the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180° and the
sum of the interior angles of a quadrilateral is 360°, and use these properties to solve
problems.
G.GS.05.07 Find unknown angles and sides using the properties of: triangles, including
right, isosceles, and equilateral triangles; parallelograms, including rectangles and
rhombuses; and trapezoids.

National Standards:

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Analyzes characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and
develops mathematical arguments about geometric relationships

Makes and tests conjectures about geometric properties and relationships and develops
logical arguments to justify conclusions

How do you anticipate students will engage with the content in this lesson?

I anticipate students will be very engaged with the content in this lesson because they enjoy
lessons that involve discovery and/or investigations. This lesson requires students to apply
previous learned concepts to figure out the sums of angles of polygons. Students will
measure the angles using either a protractor or compass. Students will use the chart we
create on the board and their previous investigations to make observations about patterns
they notice. Students will have questions regarding how many sides each figure has
(hexagon, pentagon, etc.), how to measure accurately and if they all have to draw their own
polygon.

What do you know about your students that informs this plan?

I have worked with students during previous lessons on measuring angles accurately. By
now they should feel comfortable measuring any angle and determining their classification
(acute, obtuse, right, or reflex). Many students had difficulty aligning the protractors
correctly and some were measuring the reflex angle when the instructions indicated
otherwise. Students also know that a triangle’s interior angle measure always measures
180 degrees. My cooperating teacher told me this and I have seen students demonstrate
their knowledge about triangles during other math lessons and while completing workbook
pages. Even though students should be able to measure angles accurately, I anticipate
some students might have some difficulty doing so. Since most of the lesson involves group
work, I will suggest that the students measure their angles independently and compare their
results with their group members. We will also review the groups’ results as a class. Also,
since I know the students are all aware that a triangle measures 180 degrees, I won’t have
the students measure the interior angles or talk about the class median of the sum of the
angles in a triangle.

Objective(s): The students will be able to…

1. Differentiate between concave and convex polygons
2. Measure angles with a protractor
3. Investigate and compare the measurement sums of interior angles of polygons
4. Find the median for a data set
5. Understand that as a polygon increases by 1 side length, the sum of the angles increases
by 180 degrees
6. Draw conclusions based on collected data

Materials needed to have ready:

1. Whiteboard and/or overhead projector
2. Template

Management considerations:

During this lesson, students will have the opportunity to work independently, in small groups
and participate in full class discussion. In the beginning of the lesson, students work in
groups of three to work on their workbook pages. Since there are 24 students in the class, I
will divide the class into eight groups of three. The class is arranged in a “U” shape so the
groups will be formed based on seating assignments to minimize wasted time while students

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are rearranging in their groups. I will record the different groups data from finding the
median angle sums and the class will work together to find the class median for quadrangles
and pentagons. Students will then complete question 10 individually, which asks them to
find a pattern in the sum of polygon angles table. This will lead into our class discussion.

The only material students will use in addition to their math workbook is their template to
measure the angles.

Introduction/hook (include time estimates) of the LESSON:

(Every math lesson generally begins with mental math questions to get the students into the
math mindset, so this is how I will begin the lesson.) Who can tell me... (2 minutes—
consider omitting and beginning with pictures of polygons)

70 [6s] 420 50 [9s] 450 80 [4s] 320

70 [60s] 4,200 50 [90s] 4,500 80 [40s] 3,200
70 [600s] 42,000 50 [900s] 45,000 80 [400s] 32,000

Outline of your lesson sequence, including teaching strategies used (include time
estimates):

1. Introduction—ask students above mental math questions (2 minutes)

2. (Place a previously drawn overhead transparency of a convex and concave polygon). I
am going to show you a picture of two different polygons. What type of polygon’s are
they? I want you to look at the interior angles of the polygons. (Denote interior
angles) What statements can you make about the interior angles in the two figures?
(Concave polygon has one angle that is a reflex angle—greater than 180 degrees) (4
minutes)
3. Open up your workbook to page 85. In your groups you are going to answer questions
1-7, but ONLY questions 1-7. You are going to be trying to find the angle measures in
quadrangles and pentagons. How many sides does a quadrangle have? Pentagon?
You are going to be working on only one of the shapes, so either the quadrangle or
the pentagon. I am going to count the groups off and tell you which shape you will be
working on (count off every other group). Make sure you read all of the directions
carefully in each question. (15 minutes)
4. (Bring class back together) Collect the groups’ median angle sums for the quadrangle
groups and the pentagon groups on overhead. Have students record this data in the
tables for Problem 8 on journal page 87. (7 minutes)
5. Using the groups’ medians, let’s try and figure out the class medians. What is the
class median for quadrangles? Pentagons? Did any groups finish measuring the
angles of the hexagon? What is the median? We didn’t measure the angles of a
triangle today since we already know that the angles of a triangle always add up to
what? So we can say the class median for triangles is 180 degrees. (2 minutes)
6. Look at question 10 in your workbook. What patterns do you see in the Sums of
Polygon Angles table? I want you to think about this question and answer it
individually. (3 minutes)

Sides of polygon # Of triangles Sum of angles

3 (triangle) 1 1x180=180
4 (quadrangle) 2 2x180=360
5 (pentagon) 3 3x180=540
6 (hexagon) 4 4x180=720
7 (heptagon) 5 5x180=900
8 (octagon) 6 6x180=1080
*This chart will help students visualize with numbers what is happening as each polygon

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increase by one side. It will represent the figures they were working with and allow them to
analyze the chart to formulate conclusions about the relationship between the number of
sides in a polygon and the total sum of the angles in the polygon. It will also allow them to
recognize patterns.
7. Discussion (15 minutes)

Detailed Discussion Planning:

Times
(start/sto
Discussion sequence
p and
mins.)
Task or Problem Being Discussed: What pattern do you notice in the sums of polygon
angles table?

Discussion Objective: Students will be able to look at the chart we created on the
board together and make observations that will allow them to conclude that as a
polygon’s side length increases by 1, the sum of the degrees increase by 180
degrees.

2 min 3. Launching the discussion

(What question or prompt will you use to get the discussion off the ground?)
Let’s look at the table we created. What patterns do you notice?

10 min 4. Orchestrating the discussion

 Do you notice any patterns in the chart?
 What are the differences between a triangle and a quadrangle?
 Do the numbers in the class median column increase or decrease and by how
much?
 The quadrangle had one more side than the triangle; the median sum of their
angels increases by 180 degrees
 Why do you think the medians for the sums of polygon angles increase by 180
degrees? (The sum of the angles of the quadrangle equals 2x180, or 360 degrees…
will discuss in next lesson)
3 minute 5. Concluding the discussion

Today we learned the sum of the angles of quadrangles is 360 degrees, pentagon is
540 degrees, and a hexagon is 720 degrees. So as the polygon’s number of sides
increases by 1, the degrees increase by 180 degrees. (Students might determine that
(n-2)180 = sum of a polygon with n sides.)

What accommodations will you make to meet the full range of your students?

In order to accommodate the full range of students in the class, I am providing opportunity
for group work and individual work since there are some students who prefer working alone
and some who prefer working in groups. During group and individual work, I will circulate
around the room specifically paying attention to those who might need more assistance and
make sure they are on track. I will also pay attention to the students who excel at math and
if they complete the assignment early, I will challenge them with another question to work
on. There is an ESL student who just started learning English at the beginning of the year, so
I will assist her as well, when necessary. I will also record as much of the results as possible
for students who are visual learners and those who might want to refer back to something
we previously discussed.

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Closing/wrap up of the LESSON: (2 min)

You all did a great job of working together and staying focused during this long lesson. I am
really impressed! I have one last question I want you to answer so I can see if you fully
understand what we learned today.

Draft of End-of-Class Check:

Write the sum of the angles of the following polygons:

Triangle = __________∞

Quadrangle = __________∞

Pentagon = __________∞

Hexagon = __________∞

*Challenge question:
A student wants to figure out the sum of the interior angles of a polygon with 52 sides.
What is the easiest way to find the sum?

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