Geometry
Math curriculum
The geometry skills and concepts developed in this discipline are useful to all
students. Aside from learning these skills and concepts, students will develop their
ability to construct formal, logical arguments and proofs in geometric settings and
problems.
1.0 Students demonstrate understanding by identifying and giving examples of
undefined terms, axioms, theorems, and inductive and deductive reasoning.
2.0 Students write geometric proofs, including proofs by contradiction.
3.0 Students construct and judge the validity of a logical argument and give
counterexamples to disprove a statement.
4.0 Students prove basic theorems involving congruence and similarity.
5.0 Students prove that triangles are congruent or similar, and they are able to use
the concept of corresponding parts of congruent triangles.
6.0 Students know and are able to use the triangle inequality theorem.
7.0 Students prove and use theorems involving the properties of parallel lines cut by
a transversal, the properties of quadrilaterals, and the properties of circles.
8.0 Students know, derive, and solve problems involving the perimeter, circumfer
ence, area, volume, lateral area, and surface area of common geometric figures.
9.0 Students compute the volumes and surface areas of prisms, pyramids, cylinders,
cones, and spheres; and students commit to memory the formulas for prisms,
pyramids, and cylinders.
10.0 Students compute areas of polygons, including rectangles, scalene triangles,
equilateral triangles, rhombi, parallelograms, and trapezoids.
11.0 Students determine how changes in dimensions affect the perimeter, area, and
volume of common geometric figures and solids.
12.0 Students find and use measures of sides and of interior and exterior angles of
triangles and polygons to classify figures and solve problems.
13.0 Students prove relationships between angles in polygons by using properties of
complementary, supplementary, vertical, and exterior angles.
14.0 Students prove the Pythagorean theorem.
15.0 Students use the Pythagorean theorem to determine distance and find missing
lengths of sides of right triangles.
16.0 Students perform basic constructions with a straightedge and compass, such as
angle bisectors, perpendicular bisectors, and the line parallel to a given line
through a point off the line.
17.0 Students prove theorems by using coordinate geometry, including the midpoint
of a line segment, the distance formula, and various forms of equations of lines
and circles.
18.0 Students know the definitions of the basic trigonometric functions defined by
the angles of a right triangle. They also know and are able to use elementary
relationships between them. For example, tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x), (sin(x))2 + (cos(x)) 2 = 1.
19.0 Students use trigonometric functions to solve for an unknown length of a side of
a right triangle, given an angle and a length of a side.
20.0 Students know and are able to use angle and side relationships in problems with
special right triangles, such as 30°, 60°, and 90° triangles and 45°, 45°, and 90°
triangles.
21.0 Students prove and solve problems regarding relationships among chords,
secants, tangents, inscribed angles, and inscribed and circumscribed polygons
of circles.
22.0 Students know the effect of rigid motions on figures in the coordinate plane and
space, including rotations, translations, and reflections.