Angle Finders
There are four different types of angles
- Straight angle - 180° (basically a straight line)
- Acute - Less than 90°
- Right - Exactly 90° (basically a straight corner)
- Obtuse - Greater than 90° but less than 180°
A really fun, and frankly super cheap, activity to do with your students when learning about angles is to make angle finders with them. The only materials needed are index cards (we used 4 x 6 ones) and some colored markers (because some students will want to make them colorful.) Here is a picture of the angle finder I made in class. Mine is kind-of boring, but one of my table mates made a super cute one.
That's it! Super easy but it works. Confused on just HOW it works? Well, so was I at first. Here is how it works - you line a corner up with the vertex (point) of your angle and the edge of one of your rays (lines). If one the other ray lines up with the opposite edge of your angle finder then the angle is a right angle. If the other ray can not be seen anymore because it is now covered by your angle finder than it is an acute angle. If the other ray is sticking out past your angle finder then it is an obtuse angle. Here are some pictures of what I mean. Here is a picture of two angles - ∠ABC and ∠ABD.
When you put your angle finder on the vertex of ∠ABC, you see that ray AB is no longer visible. Therefore, ∠ABC is an acute angle.
However, when you put your angle finder on the vertex of ∠ABD, you see that ray AB is still visible. Therefore, ∠ABD is an obtuse angle.
Like I said, super easy, inexpensive, and fun to make. Have your students take their newfound math tool around the room and measure angles they come across. They can measure the angles of chair legs, computer screens, doorways, anything really. It's a great activity to not only tap into their creativity (by decorating their angle finders) but also gets them up and moving around, which always helps with learning comprehension. Happy teaching! 😊
When you put your angle finder on the vertex of ∠ABC, you see that ray AB is no longer visible. Therefore, ∠ABC is an acute angle.
However, when you put your angle finder on the vertex of ∠ABD, you see that ray AB is still visible. Therefore, ∠ABD is an obtuse angle.
Like I said, super easy, inexpensive, and fun to make. Have your students take their newfound math tool around the room and measure angles they come across. They can measure the angles of chair legs, computer screens, doorways, anything really. It's a great activity to not only tap into their creativity (by decorating their angle finders) but also gets them up and moving around, which always helps with learning comprehension. Happy teaching! 😊
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