LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Mathematics — Grade 8

Goal 3: Geometry - The learner will understand and use properties and relationships in geometry.

Objective 3.01. Represent problem situations with geometric models.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Woodworkers and finishers: Working with area
In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 3.6
In this lesson, students participate in a furniture-finishing scenario in which they draw and calculate the area of a set of tabletops with different shapes.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
By Valerie Davis, Sonya Rexrode, and Monika Vasili.
Translations, reflections, rotations
This lesson will allow students to explore translations, reflections, and rotations using a resource of Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop Interactivate Your Math Students. Students explore the world of translations, reflections, and rotations in the Cartesian coordinate system by transforming squares, triangles and parallelograms. Parameters: Shape, x or y translation, x or y reflection, angle of rotation. (Italics are a direct quote from Shodor.org.)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
By Deborah Bourne.
The story of pi
In Critical thinking in science, page 3
In this lesson, students design an experiment to test the importance of decimal places by rounding the value of pi. The collected data is used to answer questions and write a short editorial.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science)
By Daniell DiFrancesca.
Problem-centered lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem
This lesson is designed to help students give meaning to solving problems using the Pythagorean Theorem in a useful and meaningful situation.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Mathematics)
By Brent Bustle.
Mirror, mirror on the ground!
In this lesson, students will use their knowledge of similar triangles and indirect measurement to measure the heights of various objects.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics)
By Denise Corbett.
Measuring pots
In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.7
Students will use an activity sheet or modern pottery rim sherds to compute circumference from a section of a circle and construct analogies based on their own experience about possible functions of ancient or historic ceramics.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics and Social Studies)
Language families
In Intrigue of the Past, page 4.7
Students will identify and locate the three language families of contact period North Carolina and calculate the physical area covered by each language family.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 7–8 Mathematics and Social Studies)
Irrational numbers: Application to natural frequency and resonance
In A mathematical model to describe fluid behavior, page 1
After a discussion about the effects of natural phenomena on an object’s natural frequency, students will conduct an experiment to model resonance in plant stems and measure the natural frequency of pine trees. Through these activities, the students will gain an understanding of frequency, natural frequency, resonance, oscillations and square roots.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
By Jenny Rucker.
Interior designers: Working with right triangles
In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 3.2
In this lesson, students will use their knowledge of right triangles to create a design for an abstract work of art.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics)
By Valerie Davis, Sonya Rexrode, and Monika Vasili.
Giving meaning to volume and surface area
This lesson is designed to help students give meaning to volume and surface area by solving problems using a meaningful situation rather than formulas.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics)
By Grayson Wheatley.
Fire in Pythagorville: Problem-centered lessons
Students will work on problem-centered lessons which use the application of the Pythagorean theorem to put out a fire in the fictional town of Pythagorville.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Mathematics)
By Kelly Crisp.
Dear Tootsie Roll company
The students will measure the surface area and wrapper area of five pieces of candy. Using appropriate formulas and measuring techniques, they will complete information needed for a spreadsheet and database. Students wrap up the lesson by writing a letter to the company with the most wasted paper to explain how the waste affects them as consumers and a suggestion for correcting the problem.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts and Mathematics)
By Tonya Thompson.
Commercial and industrial designers: Working with volume
In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 3.7
In this lesson, students calculate the volume of a variety of boxes, and calculate the change in volume that would result from a change in the boxes' dimensions.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics)
By Valerie Davis, Sonya Rexrode, and Monika Vasili.
Calculating slope of a ramp
In On track learning: Safety through technology and design, page 9
In this lesson, students build a ramp and calculate its slope at different heights. They will also test cars to see how the height of the ramp affects speed.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–10 English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science)
By Roxanne Moses.
Area of solids
Finding area of rectangular solids and cylinders by cutting them into flat pieces and adding the areas.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–12 Mathematics)
By Dorothy Carawan.

Resources on the web

When is a cube not a cube?
In this lesson, the third in a four-part series from Illuminations titled “Spatial Reasoning Using Cubes and Isometric Drawings: Part Two: Solid to Isometric—One to Many,” students explore polyhedra using different representations and... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Understanding congruence, similarity, and symmetry using transformations and interactive figures: Visualizing transformations
The interactive figures in this four-part example allow a user to manipulate a shape and observe its behavior under a particular transformation or composition of transformations. E-Math Investigations are selected e-examples from the electronic... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Some “Escher” drawings
In this lesson, the last in a four-part series from Illuminations titled “Spatial Reasoning Using Cubes and Isometric Drawings: Part Two: Solid to Isometric — One to Many,” students explore polyhedra using different representations and... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Purple Prisms
In order for students to better understand scale factor and surface area of various rectangular prisms, they manipulate the scale factor that links two three-dimensional rectangular prisms to learn about edge lengths and surface area relationships. Illuminations... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Polygon capture: A geometry game
Students classify polygons according to more than one property at a time. The purpose of this game is to motivate students to examine relationships among geometric properties. The game also gives students a format for using important geometric vocabulary–parallel,... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics