Body Angles and Simon Says (adapted from Chris Conifer)
Overview
In this lesson, students explore different ways the can make acute, right, obtuse, and straight angles with their bodies. They then play Simon says to practice the vocab of these words, showing the meaning of each word by using arms, legs, or other body parts to make each kind of angle. The students contribute to a class chart that will serve as a reference for these benchmark angles.
Materials
straw angle devices (or angle legs)
Sets of 1 of each kind of pattern block, 1 set per student
Instructions
1. Distribute the pattern blocks to the students. Ask each student to pick up a blue rhombus pattern block and look at it carefully. Ask the students to describe the shape in as many ways as they can.
2. When a student mentions that the “angles” or “corners” are different, ask her to explain what she means. Use the straw angle device (or angle legs) to surround the two kinds of angles and to show the different kinds of angles to the students.
Have them again describe the two different angles that the rhombus has. The students may say that one angle is wider and the other is narrower.
3. Have the students explain what angles are. On the vocab word chart, write any additional explanations that help the students understand angles.
4. Tell the students that an angle is formed when two rays have a common endpoint. That end point is called a vertex. Add this information and a sketch to the chart.
5. Ask the children to see what different kinds of angles they can make using their hands, fingers, and arms.
6. Have them make a special angle: a right angle. Explain that this angle is “just right,” that it’s an angle that is everywhere around us, such as the corner of papers, of books, of bookshelves, and so on. Write right angle on the vocab word chart and draw a sketch to illustrate the term.
7. Ask the students to use their fingers to make right angels and to use their two hands to make right angles. Explain that mathematicians measure angles in degrees and that a right angle has a measure of 90 degrees. Write 90 degrees next to the sketch of the angle
8. Ask the students to find right angles in the pattern blocks. Tell them to test their choices by holding an angle against the corner of a sheet of paper. Have the class identify the blocks that have right angles.
9. Next discuss the term acute angle. Explain that acute angles measure less than 90 degrees. Have the students make acute angles with their fingers, their hands, and their arms. On the word chart write the term, make several sketches, and write less than 90 degrees.
10. In the same way have the students make obtuse angles with their fingers, hands, and arms, and add the term obtuse angle to the word chart. Draw several examples of obtuse angles. Tell the students that obtuse angles measure greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees.
11. Last, introduce the term straight angle. Explain that it is an angle that has opened so wide that it is now a straight line and it measures 180 degrees. After you have the students make straight angles with their fingers, hands and arms, add that term, a sketch, and the measurement to the chart.
12. Now play a game of Simon Says to help the students become better acquainted with this new terminology. To play the game, have all the students stand up. Have them do what you say when you make statements such as the following:
· Simon says make a right angle with your fingers
· Simons says make a straight angle with your arms
· Simon stays make a ninety degree angle with your fingers
· Simon stays make a one hundred eighty degree angle with your elbow
· Simon says make an obtuse angle with your legs.