Chapter 4 Triangles, Quadrilaterals and Circles

1 How does scope and sequence in SBC related to this chapter look like?

Table 1. Scope and sequence of learning content (SBC)

Preparatory Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4
P.3.1.1 Recognize 1.3.1.1 Through 2.3.1.1 Understand 3.3.1 Investigate the 4.2.4 Explore and develop
the attribute of 2- investigating the figures circles and spheres as properties of various the understanding of
D and 3-D shapes with components such geometric figure types of triangles and measurement of angles,
for concept of as line, side and vertex, through finding and draw beautiful patterns how to construct and
figures through understand triangles using the elements that through tessellate. measure angles.
the activates and quadrilaterals as compose those figures 3.3.2 Investigate the 4.3.1 Investigate and
geometrical figures. properties of various understand properties of
types of circles and various types of
spheres. quadrilaterals using vertex,
angles, sides,
perpendicular lines and
diagonals.

2 Discuss
Read the above table and discuss on your findings. Share your findings in whole class.

3 Let’s think about the following key question throughout this chapter:
l What kind of activity is effective to define a triangle and a quadrilateral? Why is it effective?
l How to introduce right angles and shapes with right angles in Grade 2?
l What features of circles do students learn in Grade 3?
l What kind of activity is effective to define an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle? Why is it effective?
l What is the difference between angles and the sizes of angles?
l Tell all types of quadrilaterals, and explain relation between them.

4 Let’s learn about the following key ideas.

Key idea
4.1 Introduction to 2-D shapes and 3-D shapes
4.2 Right angles and shapes with right angle
4.3 Circles
4.4 Isosceles triangles and equilateral triangles
4.5 Angles and the sizes of angles
4.6 Various quadrilaterals

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4.1 Introduction to 2-D shapes and 3-D shapes

1 Think
1 When students learn 3-D shapes, they do activity of rolling shapes
such as boxes, cans and balls on a slope. What features of those
shapes are they expected to find by doing this activity?

2 Some students might think the figures on the right are triangles.
Explain how you are going to explain that these figures are not
triangles to such students.

2 Understand
Figure 1 (G1, P.xx): 3-D shapes
In Grade 1, students learn about 3-D shapes first, then they learn
about 2-D shapes after that. When they learn 3-D shapes, they find
that there are different kind of shapes such as shapes like boxes,
shapes like cans and shapes like balls by paying attention to their
features. More specifically, a shape like a box has only flat faces and
some pointing parts (i.e. vertices) while a shape like a ball has only
round faces and no pointing parts. In addition, a shape like a can has
both flat faces and a round face. They are encouraged to find those
features 3-D shapes by doing activities such as rolling those shapes on
a slope, pilling up those shapes as shown in Figure 1 and so on.
Figure 2 (G1, P.xx): Figure 3 (G1, P.xx):
2-D shapes
Then, in Grade 1, students start learning about 2-D shapes by
drawing triangles, rectangles and circles using 3-D shapes as shown in
Figure 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows drawing a rectangle by tracing a
rectangular face of a box, and Figure 3 shows drawing a triangle by
tracing a triangular face of a triangular prism. In this way, students are
expected to understand that there are several types of 2-D shapes
Figure 4 (G1, P.xx): such as triangles, rectangles and circles. They also do activities such as
making pictures using triangular, rectangular and circular paper as
shown in Figure 4. By doing these activities, they become familiar to
those geometrical shapes and understand their features.

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 Figure 5 (G2, P.xx): Triangles and Quadrilaterals
In Grade 2, students learn triangles and quadrilaterals with their
definitions by focusing on their vertices and sides. Figure 5 shows one
of activities which helps them to learn this point. In this activity,
students are asked to enclose each kind of creatures by connecting
points with straight lines. For example, as in the figure, the fish is
enclosed by connecting three points with three straight lines. Then,
this activity smoothly leads to the definition of a triangle, which says
“A shape which is enclosed by three straight line is called a triangle.”
It is important to show various triangles in terms of shape, size,
position and so on as shown in Figure 6. In this way, students will
Figure 6: understand the idea of triangle does not depend on those factors.
Also, they must understand the figures shown in (2) of above Think
part are not triangles because they do not satisfy the definition. The
same approach is taken for quadrilaterals.

3 Confirm
1 When students learn 3-D shapes, they do activity of rolling shapes such as boxes, cans and balls on
a slope. What features of those shapes are they expected to find by doing this activity?
2 Explain how you use Figure 5 to let students understand the definition of a quadrilateral.
3 What kinds of mistakes are expected if students do not understand the definition of a quadrilateral
correctly? Give examples of these expected mistakes.

4 Practice
1 Make triangular paper, rectangular paper and circular paper by tracing
faces of 3-D shapes. Then, make a picture like an example shown on
the right. .

4.2 Right angles and shapes with right angles

1 Think
1 Make a right angle by folding a piece of paper shown on the right?
Explain why the obtained angle is really a right angle?

2 Make a rectangle, a square and a right angle by folding pieces of

paper shown on the right. Explain how to make them.

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2 Understand

Right angle
Figure 1 (G2, P.xx): The idea of “right angle” is introduced in Grade 2 by using paper
folding as shown in Figure 1 on the left. Then, students will find
that there are lots of right angles in their environment such as a
corner of a window and a corner of a blackboard. Also, set
squares are introduced in this grade, and they learn that a set
square has a right angle in it. However, the idea of general angles
is not introduced since it would not be used here. The idea of
general angles is introduced with the idea of the size of an angle
together with introduction of a protractor in upper grade.
Figure 2:
After the introduction of a right angle, students learn
geometrical figures with right angles such as rectangles, squares
and right triangles.

Rectangles, squares and right triangles

A right angle is defined as a quadrilateral with four right angles. It
is a good idea for students to learn rectangles by actually making
rectangles by paper folding. They can apply how to make a right
angle four times to make a rectangle shown in Figure 2 on the left.
Also, they check the properties of rectangles, which says that “The
lengths of the opposite sides of a rectangle are the same” by folding
Figure 3 (G2, P.xx): rectangular paper to put opposite sides together as shown in Figure
3.
In the case of squares, making a square by paper folding is also a
good activity for students as shown in Figure 4. The definition of a
square is “A quadrilateral in which all 4 corners are right angles and
all 4 sides are the same length is called a square”. Students can
check that the square obtained in Figure 4 satisfies this definition
by doing paper folding.
Figure 4 (G2, P.xx):
A right triangle can be made by cutting rectangular paper or
square in half, so that it is a triangle with a right angle. Therefore,
the definition of a right triangle is “A triangle that has a right-angle
corner is called a right triangle.”

Figure 4 (G2, P.xx):

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 Figure 5: Drawing figures is an important part of learning geometry in
primary school since students can improve their understanding on
features of shapes by drawing. However, it may be difficult for
Grade 2 students to draw shapes freely on blank paper. Especially,
it is difficult for them to draw right angles on blank paper. Therefore,
they are asked to draw shapes on grid paper at this stage. In this
way, they can draw shapes with right angles including rectangles,
squares and right angles accurately enough.

3 Confirm
1 What are the definitions of a rectangle, a square and a right angle?
2 Explain how to make a rectangle by paper folding. Also, explain why a rectangle can be made in this
way.
3 What is the property of a rectangle? Explain how to check it by paper folding.

4 Practice
1 There are 8 pieces of yellow rectangular
paper, 4 pieces of blue rectangular paper and
2 pieces of red paper as in the figure on the
right. Use these pieces of papers to make
each of 2 figures (a) and (b). (a) (b)

4.3 Circles

1 Think

1 There is a piece of circular paper as shown on the right. Let’s think about how to
find the centre of the circle. Explain your idea.

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2 Understand

Figure 1: Circles
In Grade 3, students learn about circles and various triangles
Fold the paper in half
so the half -circles
including drawing those figures with compasses.
overlap precisely. In Grade 1, they learn about circles without the definition. The
definition of a circle is given in Grade 3 as “A round shape that has
the equal distance from one point is called a circle.” Also, the ideas
Open it
of the centre, the radius and the diameter of a circle are given
together.
In addition, the following features about circles are introduced:
(1) A diameter is twice the radius.
(2) If you fold a circle along its diameter, both sides the
diameter are equal in size and shape.
Open it
(3) There are many diameters in a circle and all diameters have
the equal length.
(4) Any two of the diameters of a circle intersect at the centre
of the circle.
Fold the paper in half
once more to make (5) The diameter is the longest straight line between two
another fold line.
points in the circle.
It is a good idea to let students to actually check and apply the
Figure 2 (G3, P.103): above features using a piece of circular paper. For example, when
you have a piece of circular paper without knowing its centre, you
can find the centre by applying (4) as shown in Figure 1. This kind
of activity will help students have mathematical thinking skills.
Also, drawing is one of the main parts of learning geometry in
primary school mathematics, and a pair of compasses is an
important tool for it. Actually, students use compasses to draw not
only circles but also triangles, parallelograms and so on. Therefore,
it is necessary to give students enough time to use compasses
skilfully enough. For example, it is a good idea to let them draw
the patterns shown in Figure 2.

3 Confirm
1 How do you explain the above property (5) visually to students? Use the figure on
the right.

2 Draw the pattern shown in Figure 2 above on grid paper using compasses.

4 Practice
1 Practice drawing circles using big compasses on whileboard/blackboard.
2 Make other patterns like Figure 2 for students to practice using compasses.

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4.4 Isosceles triangles and equilateral triangles

1 Think
1 Think about how to make an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle by paper-
folding. Explain your ideas.

2 Understand

Definitions and the other properties

Primary school students are not likely to be required to strictly
distinguish definitions and the other properties at this stage.
Figure 1 (G3, P.133):
However, teachers must know what are definitions and what are
the other properties. In mathematics, a definition is a statement
which gives rigorous meaning or condition for a mathematical
term. On the other hand, the other properties are mathematical
facts which are derived from definitions.
For example, “A triangle with two equal sides is called an
isosceles triangle” is a definition of isosceles triangle. On the other
hand, “An isosceles triangle has two equal angles” is a derived
property from the above definition, and it is not the definition in
this case.

Isosceles triangles and equilateral triangles

Students learned the definition of a triangle in Grade 2. In Grade
3, they learn various triangles by grouping them based on their
lengths of sides. They make various triangles using straws of 4
different lengths as shown in Figure 1. Then, they find that those
Figure 2: triangles can be grouped into three different types, namely,
triangles with 3 sides of equal lengths (i.e. equilateral triangles),
triangles with only 2 sides of equal lengths (i.e. isosceles triangles)
and triangles with 3 sides of different lengths. Doing this activity,
the definitions of isosceles triangle and equilateral triangle are
introduced.
Another main part of learning triangles is to draw isosceles
triangles and equilateral triangles with compasses. Teachers
should give students enough time to draw those triangles skilfully
enough.
Also, it might be a good idea to let students think about how to
make isosceles triangles and equilateral triangles as shown Figure
2. This activity will help students have deeper understanding on
these triangles.

3 Confirm
1 Explain how to make an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle by paper-folding.

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4 Practice
1 Read Teacher’s Notes 2 in teacher’s manual (p.209), and practice drawing isosceles triangles with big
compasses on whiteboard/blackboard. Also, practice drawing equilateral triangles.

4.5 Angles and the sizes of angles

1 Think
1 “In an isosceles triangle, the sizes of two angles are equal.” How Grade 3 students
can check this property using paper-folding or else. Explain your ideas.

2 Explain how to measure the size of Angle x with a 180° x

protractor. Thank about various ways.
B
A

C
2 Understand

Figure 1 (G3, P.140): Angles

The idea of “right angle” is introduced in Grade 2. However, the
definition of an angle is not given at this stage. The definition of angle
is given as “The figure formed by 2 straight lines from one point is
called angle” with Figure 1 on the right in Grade 3. Also, the size of an
angle is defined as the amount of opening between both sides of the
angle. Since the size of an angle is also one of measurement, the sizes
of two angles can be compared directly by putting one on the other,
for example. By applying this way, the property of isosceles triangle
Figure 2 (G3, P.141):
“In an isosceles triangle, the sizes of two angles are equal” is checked
as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3 (G4, P.31): Sizes of angles

Like other measurement such as length and volume, the size of an
(1) x angle is expressed using a universal unit and it is “degree”. How to
measure angles in degree with a protractor is introduced in Grade 4.
B Students learn the size of an angle by relating to rotation, an angle can
30° A be increased or decreased continuously by moving one of the sides of
the angle. This shows that angle is a continuous quantity just like
C length and volume. Also, let students note that angle satisfies
additivity just like length and volume, which means addition and
subtraction of the sizes of angles can be done.

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 The additivity of angles can be applied to measure angles over 180°.
(2) x For example, Angle x can be measured in the following two ways by
the activity of angle. Figure 3 (1) shows that Angle x can be found by
B doing addition 180° + 30° = 210° after measuring 30° as shown in the
A
figure with a protractor. On the other hand, Figure 3 (2) shows that
Angle A can be found by doing subtraction 360° - 150° = 210° after
150°
C measuring 150° as shown in the figure with a protractor.

3 Confirm
1 “In an equilateral triangle, sizes of three angles are equal.” Explain how to check this property using
paper-folding.

2 Explain how to measure the size of Angle x with a 180°

protractor. Thank about various ways.

4 Practice
1 Draw angles of 35°, 125°, 240° and 320° using big compasses on whiteboard/blackboard.

4.6 Various quadrilaterals

1 Think

1 Explain how to draw a parallel line to the given

line and 2 cm apart from the given line.

2 Explain how to draw the parallelogram shown on the right.

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2 Understand

Perpendicular lines and parallel lines

Figure 1 (G4, P.57): In Grade 4, students learn about various quadrilaterals including
parallelograms, trapezoids and rhombuses. However, before that
they need to learn about perpendicular lines and parallel lines
since these ideas are needed for categorizing quadrilaterals.
The idea of “perpendicular” is introduced by the definition
“Two lines are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle.”
Note that some students might mix up the ideas of
“perpendicular” and “right angle”. Teachers should let them
Figure 2 (G4, P.57):
understand that the idea of “perpendicular” is used to describe
the position of two lines like “These two lines are perpendicular”
while “right angle” should be used to describe an angle like
“These two lines meet at a right angle.”
There are several definitions of “parallel”. In our Grade 4
textbook, the definition of “parallel” is given as “Two lines are
Figure 3:
parallel when a third line crosses both lines at right angles” as
shown in Figure 1. The following two properties are derived from
distance not distance the definition.
(1) 2 lines which are intersected by a line at the same angles
are parallel (see Figure 2).
(2) The distance between 2 parallel lines is equal at every point
and they never cross no matter how far they are extended.

Figure 4 (G4, P.55):
Teachers should ask students to actually check the property (1)
by measuring angles in several different cases. As for the
property (2), also ask students to actually check it by measuring
the distances between 2 parallel lines in several cases. In this
case, let students note that the distance between 2 parallel lines
is the length of a line segment which is parallel to both lines as
shown in Figure 3.
In addition, students should have enough time to practice
drawing perpendicular lines and parallel lines since they are
going to use these skills when they draw various quadrilaterals
such as trapezoids and parallelograms. Gawl’s idea in Figure 4
shows how to draw a perpendicular line a given line using a
protractor, and Ambai’s idea shows how to draw a perpendicular
line using a set square.

Also, Figure 5 shows two ideas of drawing a line which is parallel

Figure 5 (G4, P.55):
to and 3 cm distant from a given line.

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 Trapezoids, parallelograms and rhombuses
The idea of “parallel” is used to define a trapezoid and a
parallelogram as follows.
Figure 6 (G4, P.63):
l A quadrilateral that has one pair of parallel sides is called
trapezoid.
l A quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides is called a
parallelogram.
In addition, the following property is introduced for
parallelograms.
Ø In a parallelogram, the opposite sides are equal in length and
Figure 7 (G4, P.64):
the opposite angles are equal in size.
This property can be checked using 2 or 4 sheets of identical
parallelograms as shown in Figure 6.

Drawing figures is one of application of the definition and the

properties that figures as usual. In our textbook, students are ask
to think about how to draw a parallelogram when the lengths of
2 sides and the size of the angle between them are given as
shown in the Figure 7. For example, in Yamo’s idea, the property
“In a parallelogram, 2 pairs of opposite sides are equal in length”.
Also, let students actually draw parallelograms in those ways.

Using a compases Using a protractor A rhombus is defined as follows.

Figure 8 (G4, P.65): l A quadrilateral with four equal sides is called a rhombus.
Also, the following property of rhombuses is given.
Ø In a rhombus, the opposite angles are equal and the opposite
sides are parallel.
The above property can be easily checked by folding rhombus-
shaped paper. Also, the above definition shows Rhombus ABCD
can be constructed by drawing two circles with equal radii as
shown in Figure 8.

Figure 9 (G4, P.67): Inclusive relationships of quadrilaterals

Since Grade 2 up to Grade 4, students have learnt all types of
quadrilaterals, and they learn the inclusive relationships of them
as shown in Figure 9. These inclusive relationships are explained
in terms of parallelism of sides, lengths of sides, the sizes of
angles and diagonals.

Figure 10 The following can be said regarding Figure 9. If we focus on

parallel sides, the following can be said.
² A quadrilateral with a pair of parallel sides is a trapezoid.
(Figure 10)
Figure 11 ² A quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides is a
parallelogram. (Figure 11)

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Figure 12 ² A rectangle, a square and a rhombus also have two pairs of
parallel sides, respectively. (Figure 12)

The following can be said in terms of the lengths of sides and the
sizes of angles.
Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15
² A parallelogram with all sides equal in length is a rhombus.
(Figure13)
² A parallelogram with all angles equal in size is a rectangle.
(Figure14)
² A parallelogram with all sides equal and all angles equal is a
square. (Figure15)

² The following can be said if we focus on diagonals.

² The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other. (Figure16)
Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 ² A parallelogram with two diagonals equal in length is a
rectangle. (Figure17)
² A parallelogram with two perpendicular diagonals is a
rhombus. (Figure18)
² A parallelogram with two diagonals equal in length and have
parallelogram rectangle rhombus a perpendicular intersection is a square. (Figure19)

Figure 19

square

3 Confirm
1 Explain how to draw perpendicular lines and parallel lines.

2 Explain how to draw a rhombus shown on the right.

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 3 Which of these quadrilaterals have the following characteristics?

4 Practice
1 Draw perpendicular lines and parallel lines using big set squares and a protractor on
whiteboard/blackboard.
2 Draw parallelograms like the ones shown below.

3 Practice drawing the parallelograms in the above Question 2 on whiteboard/blackboard by enlarging

properly.

1 Exercise
(1) Draw an isosceles triangle where 3 sides are 7 cm, 5 cm and 5 cm.

(2) Draw a parallelogram with sides of 4 cm and 6 cm long and an angle of

80° between those sides.

80°

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(3) The Venn diagram on the right Quadrilaterals
shows the inclusive relationships
(a)
of quadrilaterals.
① Fill the blanks (a) – (d) with (b)
appropriate names of
quadrilaterals. Rectangles
② What additional condition is
needed for (b) to become (c)
rectangles.
(d)

(4) Fill the table below with ✓ if each quadrilateral agrees with the following features.
trapezium parallelogram rhombus rectangle square
Two diagonals have equal
lengths
Each diagonal divides the
other diagonal equally
The lengths between the
intersection of diagonals and
each vertex are all equal
Two diagonals are
perpendicular

2 Terminology

Drawing 2-D shapes by tracing faces of 3-D shapes, vertex, side, angle, right angle, circle, compasses,
centre, radius, diameter, isosceles triangle, equilateral triangle, protractor, difference between an
angle and the size of an angle, square, rectangle, trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus, inclusive
relationships of quadrilaterals, diagonal

3 Preparation for mock teaching

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 Mock teaching
Prepare a lesson using following material for mock teaching.

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