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  • Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach (2008)

Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach (2008)

2: Reasoning in Geometry

2.5: Angle Relationships

Screenshot of Investigating Angle Theorems

Investigating Angle Theorems

Explore the properties of complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles using a dynamic figure. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Investigating Angle Theorems

Investigating Angle Theorems

Explore the properties of complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles using a dynamic figure. 5 Minute Preview


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3: Using tools of Geometry

3.1: Duplicating Segments and Angles

Screenshot of Constructing Congruent Segments and Angles

Constructing Congruent Segments and Angles

Construct congruent segments and angles using a straightedge and compass. Use step-by-step explanations and feedback to develop understanding of the construction. 5 Minute Preview


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3.3: Constructing Perpendiculars to a Line

Screenshot of Constructing Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Constructing Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Construct parallel and perpendicular lines using a straightedge and compass. Use step-by-step explanations and feedback to develop understanding of the construction. 5 Minute Preview


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3.5: Constructing Parallel Lines

Screenshot of Constructing Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Constructing Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Construct parallel and perpendicular lines using a straightedge and compass. Use step-by-step explanations and feedback to develop understanding of the construction. 5 Minute Preview


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3.7: Constructing Points of Concurrency

Screenshot of Concurrent Lines, Medians, and Altitudes

Concurrent Lines, Medians, and Altitudes

Explore the relationships between perpendicular bisectors, the circumscribed circle, angle bisectors, the inscribed circle, altitudes, and medians using a triangle that can be resized and reshaped. 5 Minute Preview


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4: Discovering and proving Triangle Properties

4.1: Triangle Sum Conjecture

Screenshot of Triangle Angle Sum

Triangle Angle Sum

Measure the interior angles of a triangle and find the sum. Examine whether that sum is the same for all triangles. Also, discover how the measure of an exterior angle relates to the interior angle measures. 5 Minute Preview


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4.2: Properties of Isosceles Triangles

Screenshot of Isosceles and Equilateral Triangles

Isosceles and Equilateral Triangles

Investigate the graph of a triangle under constraints. Determine which constraints guarantee isosceles or equilateral triangles. 5 Minute Preview


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4.3: Triangle Inequalities

Screenshot of Triangle Inequalities

Triangle Inequalities

Discover the inequalities related to the side lengths and angle measures of a triangle. Reshape and resize the triangle to confirm that these properties are true for all triangles. 5 Minute Preview


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4.4: Are There Congruence Shortcuts?

Screenshot of Proving Triangles Congruent

Proving Triangles Congruent

Apply constraints to two triangles. Then drag the vertices of the triangles around and determine which constraints guarantee congruence. 5 Minute Preview


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4.5: Are There Other Congruence Shortcuts?

Screenshot of Proving Triangles Congruent

Proving Triangles Congruent

Apply constraints to two triangles. Then drag the vertices of the triangles around and determine which constraints guarantee congruence. 5 Minute Preview


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4.8: Proving Special Triangle Conjectures

Screenshot of Segment and Angle Bisectors

Segment and Angle Bisectors

Explore the special properties of a point that lies on the perpendicular bisector of a segment, and of a point that lies on an angle bisector. Manipulate the point, the segment, and the angle to see that these properties are always true. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Concurrent Lines, Medians, and Altitudes

Concurrent Lines, Medians, and Altitudes

Explore the relationships between perpendicular bisectors, the circumscribed circle, angle bisectors, the inscribed circle, altitudes, and medians using a triangle that can be resized and reshaped. 5 Minute Preview


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5: Discovering and Proving Polygon Properties

5.1: Polygon Sum Conjecture

Screenshot of Polygon Angle Sum

Polygon Angle Sum

Derive the sum of the angles of a polygon by dividing the polygon into triangles and summing their angles. Vary the number of sides and determine how the sum of the angles changes. Dilate the polygon to see that the sum is unchanged. 5 Minute Preview


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5.3: Kite and Trapezoid Properties

Screenshot of Classifying Quadrilaterals

Classifying Quadrilaterals

Apply constraints to a quadrilateral, and then reshape and resize it. Classify the figure by its constraints. Explore the differences between the different kinds of quadrilaterals. 5 Minute Preview


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5.5: Properties of Parallelograms

Screenshot of Parallelogram Conditions

Parallelogram Conditions

Apply constraints to a dynamic quadrilateral. Then drag its vertices around. Determine which constraints guarantee that the quadrilateral is always a parallelogram. 5 Minute Preview


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5.6: Properties of Special Parallelograms

Screenshot of Special Parallelograms

Special Parallelograms

Apply constraints to a parallelogram and experiment with the resulting figure. What type of shape can you be sure that you have under each condition? 5 Minute Preview


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6: Discovering and Proving Circle Properties

6.2: Chord Properties

Screenshot of Chords and Arcs

Chords and Arcs

Explore the relationship between a central angle and the arcs it intercepts. Also explore the relationship between chords and their distance from the circle's center. 5 Minute Preview


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6.3: Arcs and Angles

Screenshot of Inscribed Angles

Inscribed Angles

Resize angles inscribed in a circle. Investigate the relationship between inscribed angles and the arcs they intercept. 5 Minute Preview


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6.5: The Circumference/Diameter Ratio

Screenshot of Circumference and Area of Circles

Circumference and Area of Circles

Resize a circle and compare its radius, circumference, and area. 5 Minute Preview


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7: Transformations and Tessellations

7.1: Transformations and Symmetry

Screenshot of Reflections

Reflections

Reshape and resize a figure and examine how its reflection changes in response. Move the line of reflection and explore how the reflection is translated. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Rotations, Reflections, and Translations

Rotations, Reflections, and Translations

Rotate, reflect, and translate a figure in the plane. Compare the translated figure to the original figure. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Translations

Translations

Translate a figure horizontally and vertically in the plane and examine the matrix representation of the translation. 5 Minute Preview


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8: Areas

8.1: Areas of Rectangles and Parallelograms

Screenshot of Area of Triangles

Area of Triangles

Use a dynamic triangle to explore the area of a triangle. With the help of an animation, see that any triangle is always half of a parallelogram (with the same base and height). Likewise, a similar animation shows the connection between parallelograms and rectangles. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Perimeter and Area of Rectangles

Perimeter and Area of Rectangles

Discover how to find the perimeter and area of a rectangle, and of a square (which is really just a special case of a rectangle). 5 Minute Preview


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8.2: Areas of Triangles, trapezoids, and Kites

Screenshot of Area of Parallelograms

Area of Parallelograms

Examine and manipulate a parallelogram and find its area. Explore the relationship between the area of a parallelogram and the area of a rectangle using an animation. 5 Minute Preview


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8.5: Areas of Circles

Screenshot of Circumference and Area of Circles

Circumference and Area of Circles

Resize a circle and compare its radius, circumference, and area. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Circumference and Area of Circles

Circumference and Area of Circles

Resize a circle and compare its radius, circumference, and area. 5 Minute Preview


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8.7: Surface Area

Screenshot of Surface and Lateral Areas of Prisms and Cylinders

Surface and Lateral Areas of Prisms and Cylinders

Vary the dimensions of a prism or cylinder and investigate how the surface area changes. Use the dynamic net of the solid to compute the lateral area and the surface area of the solid. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Surface and Lateral Areas of Pyramids and Cones

Surface and Lateral Areas of Pyramids and Cones

Vary the dimensions of a pyramid or cone and investigate how the surface area changes. Use the dynamic net of the solid to compute the lateral area and the surface area of the solid. 5 Minute Preview


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9: The Pythagorean Theorem

9.1: The Theorem of Pythagoras

Screenshot of Pythagorean Theorem with a Geoboard

Pythagorean Theorem with a Geoboard

Build right triangles in an interactive geoboard and build squares on the sides of the triangles to discover the Pythagorean Theorem. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagorean Theorem

Explore the Pythagorean Theorem using a dynamic right triangle. Examine a visual, geometric application of the Pythagorean Theorem, using the areas of squares on the sides of the triangle. 5 Minute Preview


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9.2: The Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem

Screenshot of Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagorean Theorem

Explore the Pythagorean Theorem using a dynamic right triangle. Examine a visual, geometric application of the Pythagorean Theorem, using the areas of squares on the sides of the triangle. 5 Minute Preview


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9.5: Distance in Coordinae Geometry

Screenshot of Distance Formula

Distance Formula

Explore the distance formula as an application of the Pythagorean theorem. Learn to see any two points as the endpoints of the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Drag those points and examine changes to the triangle and the distance calculation. 5 Minute Preview


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10: Volume

10.2: Volume of Prisms and Cylinders

Screenshot of Prisms and Cylinders

Prisms and Cylinders

Vary the height and base-edge or radius length of a prism or cylinder and examine how its three-dimensional representation changes. Determine the area of the base and the volume of the solid. Compare the volume of an oblique prism or cylinder to the volume of a right prism or cylinder. 5 Minute Preview


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10.3: Volume of Pyramids and Cones

Screenshot of Pyramids and Cones

Pyramids and Cones

Vary the height and base-edge or radius length of a pyramid or cone and examine how its three-dimensional representation changes. Determine the area of the base and the volume of the solid. Compare the volume of a skew pyramid or cone to the volume of a right pyramid or cone. 5 Minute Preview


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10.5: Displacement and Density

Screenshot of Archimedes' Principle

Archimedes' Principle

Place weights into a boat and see how far the boat sinks into a tank of liquid. The depth of the boat can be measured, as well as the amount of liquid displaced. The dimensions of the boat and the density of the liquid can be adjusted. See how much weight the boat can hold before it sinks to the bottom! 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Determining Density via Water Displacement

Determining Density via Water Displacement

Drop objects in a beaker that is filled with water, and measure the water that flows over the edge. Using Archimedes' principle, determine the density of objects based on the amount of displaced water. 5 Minute Preview


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11: Similarity

11.1: Similar Polygons

Screenshot of Dilations

Dilations

Dilate a figure and investigate its resized image. See how scaling a figure affects the coordinates of its vertices, both in (x, y) form and in matrix form. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Similar Figures

Similar Figures

Vary the scale factor and rotation of an image and compare it to the preimage. Determine how the angle measures and side lengths of the two figures are related. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Similar Figures

Similar Figures

Vary the scale factor and rotation of an image and compare it to the preimage. Determine how the angle measures and side lengths of the two figures are related. 5 Minute Preview


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Screenshot of Similarity in Right Triangles

Similarity in Right Triangles

Divide a right triangle at the altitude to the hypotenuse to get two similar right triangles. Explore the relationship between the two triangles. 5 Minute Preview


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11.4: Corresponding Parts of Similar Triangles

Screenshot of Perimeters and Areas of Similar Figures

Perimeters and Areas of Similar Figures

Manipulate two similar figures and vary the scale factor to see what changes are possible under similarity. Explore how the perimeters and areas of two similar figures compare. 5 Minute Preview


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11.5: Proportions with Area

Screenshot of Perimeters and Areas of Similar Figures

Perimeters and Areas of Similar Figures

Manipulate two similar figures and vary the scale factor to see what changes are possible under similarity. Explore how the perimeters and areas of two similar figures compare. 5 Minute Preview


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© 2025 ExploreLearning. All rights reserved. Gizmo and Gizmos are registered trademarks of ExploreLearning. STEM Cases, Handbooks and the associated Realtime Reporting System are protected by US Patent No. 10,410,534

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