Fun geometry hands-on activities for high school can mean the difference in just getting by and really getting engaged in lessons. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.
Just because your child is in high school does not mean that they’ve set aside their love for Lego.
A fantastic way to incorporate Lego into lessons is to use them to create examples and identify angles.
We have done Lego math in the past. But you can even use it for high school manipulatives for learning geometry.
First let’s talk about what geometry is.
Geometry is the part of mathematics that we use for calculating the distance around a circle, the angles that make up a triangle, or the amount of room inside of a cube.
We use it daily in art, navigation, in construction, sports, and even simple household tasks like measuring a surface area for wallpaper.
So, you can see why it is a necessary skill for your teen to learn.
7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School
Next, look at some of these activities.
These activities are a wonderful way to create a break in the typical textbook, worksheet lesson of high school geometry and can help make complicated lessons more understandable.
- Look at this LEGO for geometry idea Pythagorean Theorem Lego Proof.
- This Geometry Roller Coaster Project is a large scale lesson in engineering and problem solving. Although it’s written for a classroom, it can be used for one or two students.
- Using Hands-On Inquiry in High School Geometry gives you ideas for creating some hands-on geometry lessons that include their observations and geometry tools.
- Play the Simplyfun Shape Whiz game for an enjoyable lesson to reinforce some basic geometry shape information.
- Bonus, this one post includes 5 Geometry Projects for Middle and High School that are fun while
- Grab your deck of uno cards and try Using Uno as an Intro to Teaching Proofs for an advanced geometry lesson.
- While Geometric Art For Kids is geared to younger kids I still really think it has value and appeal for the high school bunch as well.
Also, look at my post Ancient Greece Unit Study Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Geometry} to add a math element to your favorite unit study.
The resource Everything You Need to Ace Geometry in One Big Fat Notebook is a fantastic supplement to any curriculum.
In addition, it can be used for independent study and worked well to use with my LEGO activity I have for you today.
Teaching Geometry With LEGO Activities For High School
You will need:
- LEGO
- LEGO Baseplate
- cardstock
- Pen
Single row, long LEGO bricks work best for these activities.
And if you need a good basic set of LEGO because you don’t already have them lying around the house this is a fantastic option.
Two ways we discovered to practice basic geometry are through learning terms and identifying examples of them as well as identifying different angles.
The first way I have to practice geometry is a way to introduce or reinforce geometry terms.
Geometry Vocabulary
- Point- Indicates a location.
- Line-a straight path that extends infinitely in both directions.
- Line segment –Part of a line with two endpoints.
- Ray- Part of a line that starts at a point and extends infinitely in one direction.
- Vertex –The point of intersection of two or more line segments.
- Triangle – A shape with 3 sides and 3 vertices.
- Angle- is formed of two rays with the same endpoint, vertex.
- Parallel lines- Two lines in the same plane that are at equal distance from each other and never meet.
- Perpendicular lines– Lines that intersect at a 90 degrees angle.
Write each of these terms onto cardstock and cut them into small strips to create labels.
You can carry out the activity in one of two ways, either create examples of the terms using various LEGO pieces or lay down the terms onto the base plate and have your highschooler create an example by building it with LEGO bricks.
Get creative with using single row bricks to create the examples, use single studs for your points, and make arrows at the end of rays with smaller pieces.
In the same way, create labels for acute, right, and obtuse angles and make examples for your student to match or let them create an example of each using random LEGO pieces.
Because LEGOs are meant to snap together at right angles and not obtuse or acute you will need a little help. Place your long skinny bricks on single studs to lift them above the base plate
You will then be able to swing them around freely to create different angles.
