Unit 1: Crime Scene Decoders Geometry: Shapes, Lines & Angles

Standard Focus: Geometry and Spatial Sense Time Range : 1-3 Days
Supplies : Pencil and Paper

Topics of Focus :
- Distance and Midpoints, Segment Addition, Polygons , Writing Equations of Lines, Parallel
Lines

This particular was mapped to the introductory curriculum of most geometry textbooks and
can be used as an enrichment or review activity.

Geometry 8.G 1b. Angles are taken to angles of the same measure.

8. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two

Geometry 8.G
points in a coordinate system.

1. Know precise definitions of angle, circle, perpendicular line, parallel

G-
Congruence line, and line segment, based on the undefined notions of point, line,
CO
distance along a line, and distance around a circular arc.

9. Prove theorems about lines and angles. Theorems include: vertical

G-
Congruence angles are congruent; when a transversal crosses parallel lines, alternate
CO
interior angles are congruent and corresponding angles are congruent;

Expressing
G- 6. Find the point on a directed line segment between two given points
Geometric Properties
GPE that partitions the segment in a given ratio.
with Equations

Expressing
G- 7. Use coordinates to compute perimeters of polygons and areas of
Geometric Properties
GPE triangles and rectangles, e.g., using the distance formula.★
with Equations

Procedures:
A.) Student will be given the letter from Chief Harris, the possible suspects, and crime scene puzzles.

B.) Students will work in pairs or individually to solve the crime.

C.) Students will determine which suspect should be arrested.

D.) Students will create a portfolio of evidence proving that they have arrested the right person and will
demonstrate their understanding of their mathematical content present in the problem.

*E.) Students can present their evidence to the class as an oral presentation.

*Extensions

© 21st Century Math Projects

 CSD: The Evidence
Name:_______________________________
1.

Clue

___________
2.

Clue

___________
3.

Clue

___________
© 21st Century Math Projects
4.

Clue

___________
5.

Clue

___________
6.

Clue

___________
Cryptic Text Message

Suspect

___________
© 21st Century Math Projects
Crime Scene Decoders
Geometry:
Shapes, Lines & Angles
Detectives,

Once again the world has been rocked by a string of high profile robberies. This time it seems that
South Africa has been victimized by the evil genius group, the Mathemagicians. We believe the
Mathemagicians have been successfully piecing together a world conquering device – to conquer the
world. Notes signed “Euclid Swaggster” have been discovered at each crime scene. As is the calling
card of the Mathemagicians, these notes are laden with mathematical puzzles. A cryptic text message
was sent to police, but it requires the puzzles to be cracked. We’ve been told the result of the cryptic
text message will calculate to Swaggster’s favorite number.

Thus far there are six suspects that police have questioned. It is
hoped that someone with relatively strong geometry skills can crack
the codes that have puzzled the detectives on the case so far.

You need to be prepared to state your case and demonstrate your

understanding of the following skills that Swaggster is known to use
in his notes.

- Distance and Midpoints

- Segment Addition

- Polygons

- Writing Equations of Lines

- Parallel Lines

Be sure to include:

- Other examples of the concepts

- Definitions

- Any other relevant information.

Keep in mind, the slightest miscalculation or illegible footnote could result in a not guilty verdict. Oh,
did I mention that use of a calculator might prematurely set off his world conquering device?

Good luck to you, gumshoe.

Chief Harris

© 21st Century Math Projects

Who is Euclid Swaggster?

Name: Kofi Name: Safiya

Occupation: Musician Occupation: Librarian

Favorite Number: -230 Favorite Number: 0

Name: Andy Name: Chloe

Occupation: Writer Occupation: High

School Teacher
Favorite Number: 105,300
Favorite Number:
970

Name: Ting Fen Name: Hank

Occupation: Speech Occupation: Engineer

Pathologist
Favorite Number:
Favorite Number: 37,120 21,016

© 21st Century Math Projects

Scene #1 King Shaka Int’l Airport –- Durban, South Africa

Euclid Swaggster apparently smuggled mystic Zulu powders through airport security. To
celebrate, Swaggster left this note in a bathroom stall.

Hello Lads,

I, the great Euclid Swaggster, have been

racking up some frequent flier miles while
swagging in first class. I’ve traveled the great
golden triangle of airports in South Africa for a
total of 3026 kilometers! Isn’t that exciting?

If you can figure out the f, then you can figure

out the clue to my first puzzle.

f = ____
Scene #2 The Big Hole –- Kimberely, North Cape

Posing as an ordinary tourist, Swaggster broke into the Big Hole Diamond Mine Museum and made off
with their 19 largest diamonds. Investigators are unsure how the diamonds will be used for the World
Conquering Device at this time.

Let’s play everyone’s favorite game! Who

Can Guess Which One is My Diamond
Fragment?

1. My fragment is a polygon
2. My polygon is not a diamond
3. My polygon has an even
number of vertices.
4. My polygon is convex.
5. My polygon is irregular
The number on the fragment that
meets these requirements is equal to s.

s =______

© 21st Century Math Projects

Scene #3 Capetown Stadium -- Capetown, South Africa

A security guard reported a break-in this morning and discovered the theft of 42 game-used vuvuzelas.
Made famous at the 2010 World Cup, the vuvuzela is the most annoying sound maker in the world.

BZZZZ. Go, South Africa Go! With these two passes, the home team is going to spring a counter!

How far will the soccer ball travel after both passes?
Round your answer to the nearest whole number. This answer and its
corresponding letter is the clue.

______=______
© 21st Century Math Projects
Scene #4 Highgate Ostrich Show Farm –- Oudtshoorn, South Africa

After abusing riding privileges, Euclid Swaggster ostrichnapped the current world champion
and a jockey uniform.

These ostriches go crazy fast. Since I’m trying to conquer the world quickly, I need the fastest
ostrich. After doing some riding I calculated some linear models.

Which one is the fastest? (x = seconds, y = feet). (Hint: Which ostrich has the highest slope?)

highgate Invitational

A i r s
-5x + y = -2 2y - 20 Travels through points Travels through the
x (0, -5) and (6, -2) point (-2, -1) and is
9 perpendicular to the
line y = -¼ x + 2

(letter of ostrich)=(ft/s speed of ostrich)

______=______
Scene #5 Kruger National Park –- South Africa

Although the details are sketchy, a park ranger believes that tails were shaved from an entire rhino
family. Investigators are unsure of the value of rhino tail hair, but they later found this note.

My friends and I are a little mathematically anal and they’ve stopped in to

visit me in the middle of my rhino tail hair heist! Let’s meet in the middle!

R =____

© 21st Century Math Projects

Scene #6 MuseuMAfricA -- Johannesburg, South Africa

Last night, Euclid Swaggster repelled into the heavily alarmed MuseuMAfricA. Swaggster
most definitely has soft feet and great swagg. He left with hundreds of tokens and headrests
from African history.

I’ll be eBaying these headrests later. You can check out my listings @SwaggfromtheSwaggster14.
Before I’m out, I’ll be taking a trip on the luxury Blue Line train.

Wonderboom Street and President Steyn Street are parallel to each other. If you can figure out
angles A and E, you might have a chance to stop me. LOL!

C =_______

CRYPTIC PUZZLE SOLVER TEXT MESSAGE

Good luck. Lol. Stay Swaggin.

S • A + (F • R)I – C + A
Euclid Swaggster
© 21st Century Math Projects
Who is Euclid Swaggster?

Name: Kofi Name: Safiya

Occupation: Musician Occupation: Librarian

Favorite Number: -230 Favorite Number: 0

Name: Andy Name: Chloe

Occupation: Writer Occupation: High

School Teacher
Favorite Number: 105,300
Favorite Number:
970

Name: Ting Fen Name: Hank

Occupation: Speech Occupation: Engineer

Pathologist
Favorite Number:
Favorite Number: 37,120 21,016

© 21st Century Math Projects

Scene #1 King Shaka Int’l Airport –- Durban, South Africa

Euclid Swaggster apparently smuggled mystic Zulu powders through airport security. To
celebrate, Swaggster left this note in a bathroom stall.

Hello Lads,

I, the great Euclid Swaggster have been racking

up some frequent flier miles while swagging in
first class. I’ve traveled the great golden
triangle of airports in South Africa for a total
of 3026 kilometers! Isn’t that exciting?

If you can figure out the f, then you can figure

out the clue to my first puzzle.

14f + 926 = 3026

f = ____150
Scene #2 The Big Hole –- Kimberely, North Cape

Posing as an ordinary tourist, Swaggster broke into the Big Hole Diamond Mine Museum and made off
with their 19 largest diamonds. Investigators are unsure how the diamonds will be used for the World
Conquering Device at this time.

Let’s play everyone’s favorite game! Who

Can Guess Which One is My Diamond
Fragment?

1. My fragment is a polygon
2. My polygon is not a diamond
3. My polygon has an even
number of vertices.
4. My polygon is convex.
5. My polygon is irregular
The number on the fragment that
meets these requirements is equal to s.

s =_______ 6
© 21st Century Math Projects
Scene #3 Capetown Stadium -- Captone, South Africa

A security guard reported a break-in this morning and discovered the theft of 42 game-used vuvuzelas.
Made famous at the 2010 World Cup, the vuvuzela is the most annoying soundmaker in the world.

BZZZZZZZZZZ. Go, South Africa Go! With these two passes, the home team is going to spring a counter!

How far will the soccer ball travel after both passes? First pass: 302 + 102= SQRT (900 +100) = 31.63, Second
Pass 252 + 252 = SQRT(625+625) = 35.36 so ~ 66.99

Round your answer to the nearest whole number. This answer and its corresponding letter is the clue.

A i r s
65 units 67 units 69 units 71 units
______=______ i=67
© 21st Century Math Projects
Scene #4 Highgate Ostrich Show Farm –- Oudtshoorn, South Africa

After abusing riding privileges, Euclid Swaggster ostrichnapped the current world champion
and a jockey uniform.

These ostriches go crazy fast. Since I’m trying to conquer the world quickly, I need the fastest
ostrich. After doing some riding I calculated some linear models.

Which one is the fastest? (x = seconds, y = feet). (Hint: Which ostrich has the highest slope?)

highgate Invitational

A i r s
-5x + y = -2 2y - 20 Travels through points Travels through the
=x (0, -5) and (6, -2) point (-2, -1) and is
y = 5x - 2 9 x + 10
y = 9/2 Y=½x–5 perpendicular to the
line y = -¼ x + 2
Y = 4x + 7

(letter of ostrich)=(ft/s speed of ostrich)

______=______ A = 5
Scene #5 Kruger National Park –- South Africa

Although the details are sketchy, a park ranger believes that tails were shaved from an entire rhino
family. Investigators are unsure of the value of rhino tail hair, but they later found this note.

My friends and I are a little mathematically anal and they’ve stopped in to

visit me in the middle of my rhino tail hair heist! Let’s meet in the middle!

I am at the Kruger National Park in Skukuza with the latitude and longitude
coordinates (-24.98, 31.58). my friends are exploring the Nelson Mandela
Museum in Mpumalanga at (-29.82, 30.62). We are going to meet exactly in
between our coordinates. Where will we be meeting?
X coordinate -> -24.98 + -29.82 = -54.80 / 2 = -27.40 Y Coordinate -> 31.58 + 30.62 = 62.20 / 2 = 31.10
adding them together is 3.70 so…

Add your x and Y coordinates together to find r and the clue for this puzzle

r =____ 3.70
© 21st Century Math Projects
Scene #6 MuseuMAfricA -- Johannesburg, South Africa

Last night, Euclid Swaggster repelled into the heavily alarmed MuseuMAfricA. Swaggster
most definitely has soft feet and great swagg. He left with hundreds of tokens and headrests
from African history

I’ll be eBaying these headrests later. You can check out my listings @SwaggfromtheSwaggster14.
Before I’m out, I’ll be taking a trip on the luxury Blue Line train.

Wonderboom Street and President Steyn Street are parallel to each other. If you can figure out
angles A and E, you might have a chance to stop me. LOL!

50+50 C =_______ 100

CRYPTIC PUZZLE SOLVER TEXT MESSAGE

Good luck. Lol. Stay Swaggin.

S • A + (F • R)I – C + A
Euclid Swaggster

© 21st Century Math Projects

From Puzzle 1 f = 150
From Puzzle 2 s= 6
From Puzzle 3 i=67
From Puzzle 4 A=5
From Puzzle 5 r = 3.70
From Puzzle 6 C = 100

(6) • (5) + (150 • 3.7)67 – (100) + (5)

(6) • (5) + (555)67 – (100) + (5)
30 + 37185 – (100) + (5)
37215 – (100) + (5)
37115 + (5) = 37120

© 21st Century Math Projects