Chariot Wheels

Did you know men rode chariots run by horses as an Olympic sport? Can you imagine that today? A very interesting event this was. The chariots were constructed of wood, as well as their wheels. Today we will explore the wheels to prove that all circles are similar. 1. What does similar mean? (*hint: think of triangles)

2. Write down all that you can remember about circles

3. Within your collaborative groups, complete the following a. Look at the dimensions of this wheel, what can we conclude about the radius? b. What can we conclude about the length of the unlabeled side? ft c. If we were to connect the two side lengths (as shown below), what would the length of the new side be? (*hint, use the Pythagorean Theorem)

ft

ft
4. Lets look at a bigger wheel On the right you have a new wheel that is larger, what can we conclude about the missing length? a. If we were to construct a right triangle, as we did in the last example, what would the length of our hypotenuse be?

5. Compare the two right triangles from both wheels, are they similar triangles?

a. What can we conclude about our wheels?

6. Reflection: Write down two pieces of new information you learned today and one piece that you would like more work on to master the learning goal.

Lesson Plan for Chariot Wheels

Unit: Circles Grade: 10th Grade Geometry Objective: Students will be able to describe the proof why all circles are similar. Standard: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.C.A.1 Prove that all circles are similar. Anticipatory Set: Students will engage in a warm-up activity that will ask them to construct a circle on a coordinate grid and dilate the circle to three times its size. The warm-up will then ask students to reflect on the size of the radii on the two circles. This will gauge students prior knowledge about circles. Tasks: 1. Students will complete the warm-up individually, then discuss the answers as a class 2. Students will receive the handout, Chariot Wheels and begin working on problems 1 and 2 individually 3. Collaborative groups will get together to work the for the rest of the class period 4. A random group members sheet will be asked to turn-in for credit for entire group 5. The last five minutes will be devoted to reflecting on todays lessons and addressing any misconceptions Assessment Strategies: the warm-up activity will be a way for me to see what students already know about circles and if they can compare radii while students work in groups I will be circulating the classroom checking for understanding by asking open-ended questions to each group the final reflection will take place, this will allow me to finalize my ideas about what will come next for my students and this unit Closure: To end the lesson I will ask, What was one piece that was new today? How are all circles similar? this will be a quick answer Where in our society do we see circles? Are all circles in the real-world actually similar?