These triangles twist and turn! How many different triangles can you suspend on a mobile?

• 1.

  A triangle is a simple polygon. Every triangle consists of three sides and three angles. The sum of the angles in a triangle always adds up to 180 degrees. Triangles are classified by their sides and angles. There are several types of triangles such as scalene, equilateral triangle, and isosceles.

• 2.

  In small groups, find out more about the names and types of triangles. Use Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils to list your results. Sketch each triangle and list its characteristics. Compare your list with other groups. How many new triangles can you add to your list and show on a mobile?

• 3.

  On posterboard use your Erasable Colored Pencils to draw a variety of triangles. With Crayola Twistables, decorate and label them. Cut out the triangles with Crayola Scissors. Decorate the other side.

• 4.

  Punch a hole at the top of each triangle. Punch holes in the bottoms of some so you can hang more triangles from them.

• 5.

  On heavy cardboard, draw a large triangle. Decorate both sides of it with Twistables. Punch three holes in it. Tie yarn in the holes for hanging. Use yarn to attach the smaller triangles to the large one and/or each other. Make sure the triangles hang freely beneath the large cardboard triangle.

• 6.

  Hang your Twisting Triangle mobile near a window so it can turn in the breeze.

Standards

• LA: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• LA: Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
• LA: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.
• LA: Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
• MATH: Reason with shapes and their attributes.
• MATH: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
• MATH: Geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: Shape Up! by David A. Adler; The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns; Polygons (My Path to Math) by Marina Cohen; Polygons (Discovering Shapes) by David L. Stienecker
• Take students on a triangle "hunt" in the school building. Ask them to document where they find triangles inside or outside of the building. Students write their observations and take digital photographs of the item observed. Create an electronic presentation of "Triangles in the School" for sharing with classmates. This activity can also be done for polygons in general.
• Challenge students to investigate how pyramids are made. Read Pyramids (Exploring Shapes) by Bonnie Coulter Leech. Students use recycled cardboard to create mobiles consisting of pyramids.
• Invite students to read about Alexander Calder, the inventor of the mobile. Share the book Sandy's Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone with students and invite them to incorporate some of Calder's techniques into creating mobile artwork.