Name:__________________

One of These Things is not Like the Others

The T.V. Show Sesame Street had a game they played called one of these things is not like the others. Were going to play a few rounds of this game to discover two important things about the relationships between different geometric figures. Round 1: Use centimeter rulers and protractors to determine which figure doesnt fit. Then answer the questions below.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

1.) Which figure is not like the others? 2.) Are the other three figures really the same? a. What about the three figures is the same? (there are 6 things)

3.) The figure thats not the same as the other three is still similar to the other three. a. What does the forth figure share with the other three figures? (there are 3 things)

b. What about the three figures is different?

b. I made a copy of one of the three figures that are identical then did something to it. What did I do to it to make it different from the other three?

Round 2: Use centimeter rulers and protractors to determine which figure doesnt fit. Then answer the questions below.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

1.) Which figure is not like the others?

2.) Are the other three figures really the same?

a. What about the three figures is the same? (there are 6 things)

a. What does the forth figure share with the other three figures? (there are 3 things)

b. What about the three figures is different?

b. To create the figure thats different, I made a copy of one of the three figures that are identical then did something to it. What did I do to it to make it different from the other three?

3.) The figure thats not the same as the other three is still similar to the other three. 4.) In Geometry, two shapes that are the same are called congruent. a. What needs to be the same for two shapes to be congruent?

b. What can be different between two shapes but we can still call them congruent?

5.) In Geometry, two shapes that have the same shape but are different sizes are called similar. a. Between two similar shapes, what still needs to be the same?

b. What do you do to the side lengths of one shape to produce a new shape that is similar to the original one?

c. The number that you use to enlarge or shrink a shape is called the scale factor. Look at the following shape. On the left, draw a shape similar to the one in the middle but shrink it with a scale factor of . On the right, draw a shape similar to the one in the middle but enlarge it with a scale factor of 1.5.

Round 3: Use centimeter rulers and protractors to determine which figure is not like the others.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

Round 4: Challenge round. Suppose you work in a Russian doll making factory (you know, those dolls that can be opened up and theres another doll inside the big one, then another doll inside that smaller one ). You think that one of the dolls has been made incorrectly so you go talk to your boss. He asks you to prove it to him. He wont go through all the trouble of reconfiguring the machines unless hes sure one of the dolls is not in the correct proportions. How can we prove it to him? Here are the dolls: Figure E Figure D Figure C
Figure B
Figure A

Round 5: Make your own one of these things is not like the other problem. Either make three similar figures and one that is not similar, or make three congruent figures and make one that is similar, not congruent.

Figure A Figure B Trade papers with a partner and try to solve their puzzle.

Figure C

Figure D

Applications

You may be wondering what the point of all this is. You can just see it pretty easily sometimes when one thing is not quite in the correct proportions. Think of factories. They need to make sure all their parts are exactly alike. Or think of architects who have to make sure their drawings are similar to the building theyre designing. Its actually quite useful to be able to tell when two things are congruent and when theyre similar. Also, if we already know that two things are either congruent, or similar, we can find out important information about them. 1.) If we know that the following two triangles are congruent, A then answer the following questions: a. If the distance from A to B (or we call it side AB) is 2.5 centimeters, which side of is also 2.5 centimeters? 2.5 cm (You name the side of a triangle by using the two letters that the side is between.)

B
b. If the distance from B to C (or we call it side BC) is 6 cm, which side of is also 6 cm?

6 cm F

c. Find the length of side AC.

d. So what is the length of side DF?

e. Whats the area of

f.

So what do you think the area of

should be?

2.) If we know that the following two triangles are similar then answer the following questions. a. What is the scale factor from to ? (what did I do to the side lengths of to get ?)

A 37

6 cm
b. What is side length AB?

B 53 E 4.5 cm F

3 cm

c. What is side length DF?

d. What is side length AC?

3.) If we know that the following two triangles are similar then answer the following questions. a. What is the scale factor from to ?

A 37

b. Find DF (the length of side DF)

12cm B 3 cm C

c. Find AC.

53
d. Find AB.

9 cm

e. We name angles of figures by using the symbol: . Then right after that symbol, we list 3 letters. These are the 3 letters that form the angle. So for example, side EF forms an angle with side FD. So we will name the angle . This is the angle thats marked in the diagram as 53. What do you think the angle mesures?

f.

What do you think

measures?

g. What is the area of triangle

h. What is the area of triangle

i.

So what is the scale factor between the areas of the two similar triangles?

j.

How is this scale factor related to the scale factor between the sides of the triangles?

k. So if the scale factor between two shapes is , whats the scale factor between the areas of the two shapes?

l.

Make a conjecture, if the scale factor between the sides of two cubes is , Whats the scale factor between the volumes of the two cubes?

4.) This is a classic similar figures problem. Its very very VERY useful. Shadows cast by objects at the same time of day form triangles. These triangles are always similar. So for example looking at the figure, the triangle formed by the man and his shadow is similar to the triangle formed by the telephone pole and its shadow. a. If you were someone who became scared of heights once you were more than 15 feet in the air, and your kite were stuck up at the top of this telephone pole, what dimension in the figure might you be interested in finding?

b. What dimensions in the figure could be measured easily?

c. Can you use these dimensions that you measured to help you find the dimension youre interested in? How?

5.) Lets try applying what you figured out above. Suppose you are 4.5 feet tall and you cast a shadow 6 feet long. A building next to you casts a shadow that is 72 feet long. How tall is the building? Drawing a picture would be a good idea.

6.) Bonus: Suppose you wanted to attach a cable from the top of the building in the last problem, to the tip of its shadow. How long would the cable need to be?