Background

Angles are a fundamental part of mathematics, used in many real-world applications from engineering to art. Angles are everywhere you look, from the architecture of buildings to the geometry of streets, digital devices, and even the way an arm bends. Understanding how to classify and work with angles is an essential part of understanding the world around us.

Classifying angles is one of the basic concepts of geometry. Although the concept is very straightforward, it is critical as a building block for more advanced topics such as trigonometry and analytic geometry. Understanding angles is crucial for professionals such as engineers, architects, artists, and many more.

For a deeper dive into this topic, I would suggest checking out the following resources:

1. Angles - Math is Fun: A comprehensive article that introduces the concept of angles and angle measures, followed by the various angle types. It also covers adjacent angles, supplementary angles, and complementary angles.

2. Introduction to Angles - Khan Academy: A video that introduces the concept of angles and proceeds to explain how to measure an angle. The Khan Academy platform also provides practice exercises.

Introduction

In mathematics, an angle is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle. The size of an angle is the amount of "turning" required to move one ray onto the other, and is usually measured in degrees or radians.

Depending on the measure of the angle, angles can be classified into five different types: zero angle, acute angle, right angle, obtuse angle, and straight angle. Understanding how to identify each of these angle types is essential in analyzing and understanding geometric problems.

With that, we present this project to you, the students, as a way of learning about angle classification in a fun, hands-on way. We believe that this will not only be helpful to you in your math classes, but also as you go through life.

Angle Scavenger Hunt Activity

Project Goal

To promote playful, hands-on, and collaborative learning of angle classification.

Project Description

Students, divided into groups of 3-5, will go on a scavenger hunt, looking for angles in the world around them and classifying them. Angles can be found anywhere and everywhere - at home, at school, in a park, in books, magazines, etc. Each group will document their findings by taking pictures of the angles, classifying each angle, and recording their observations.

Materials

• A camera (a phone camera is sufficient)
• A notebook and pen for note-taking
• A ruler or protractor (optional)
• A computer for preparing the project report

Step-by-Step

1. Group formation: Students will be split into groups of 3-5.
2. Initial preparation: Each group will discuss and plan the best strategies to find angles in their environment.
3. Execution: Groups will search for and take pictures of angles they find in the world around them. Be sure to take clear pictures that show the angle clearly.
4. Angle Classification: After taking their pictures, students will classify the angles they found based on their measurements (acute, right, obtuse, straight).
5. Report Creation: Groups should then compile their findings into a report with the following sections: Introduction, Procedure, Results, and Bibliography.
   • Introduction: Here, students should provide background information on angles and the importance of angle classification. They should also state the purpose of the report.
   • Procedure: In this section, students will describe the process of searching for angles, challenges faced, strategies used, and explain their angle classifications. Pictures should be included here, with their respective angle classifications clearly labelled.
   • Results: Students will reflect on what they learned from doing this project. What skills were developed? How easy or difficult was it to classify the angles? What were some surprising discoveries? How could this knowledge be applied to other situations?
   • Bibliography: Here, students should list any resources used during the project.
6. Report Presentation: Once the report is complete, each group will present their findings to the class.

Timeframe: This project is designed to be completed over the course of a week, with an estimated 2-4 hours of work per student.

Project Deliverables:

• A written report containing pictures, angle classifications, reflections, and a conclusion.
• A presentation of their work to the class.