Math  /  7th Grade  /  Unit 6: Geometry

Geometry

Students apply algebraic and proportional reasoning skills to investigate angle relationships, circle measurements, uniqueness of triangles, and solid figure application problems.

Math

Unit 6

7th Grade

Unit Summary

In Unit 6, 7th grade students cover a range of topics from angle relationships to circles and polygons to solid figures. The 7th grade Geometry standards are categorized as additional standards, however, there are several opportunities throughout the unit where students are engaged in the major work of the grade. In the beginning of the unit, students use and solve equations to represent relationships between angles and find missing angle measures. Investigating circles, students discover the proportional relationship between the circumference of a circle and its diameter, and understand π as the ratio of these two quantities. Students will also use their expressions skills to write numerical expressions that can be used to find surface area and volume of three-dimensional figures. 

Throughout the unit, students encounter several vocabulary words, such as complementary angles, vertical angles, radius, and circumference. Many of these words enable students to be more precise in their communications with each other (MP.6). Students will also encounter complex diagrams of angles and 3-D figures where they will need to understand what information they can glean from the diagram and plan a solution pathway before jumping in (MP.1). Students should have access to several tools they may opt to use throughout the unit, including rulers, protractors, compasses, and reference sheets (MP.5).

The foundational skills for the standards in this unit stem from 4th grade through 6th grade. In 4th grade, students studied the concepts of angle measurement and understood angle measure to be additive. In 5th grade, students developed an understanding of three-dimensional volume, which they further built on in 6th grade. Students also began to distinguish between the three-dimensional space an object takes up and the surface area that covers it in 6th grade.

In 8th grade, students will zoom in on right triangles and apply the Pythagorean theorem to determine side lengths in right triangles. They will also continue solving real-life applications of surface area and volume, with the addition of cones, spheres, and cylinders.

Pacing: 23 instructional days (21 lessons, 1 flex day, 1 assessment day)

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Assessment

The following assessments accompany Unit 6.

Pre-Unit

Have students complete the Pre-Unit Assessment and Pre-Unit Student Self-Assessment before starting the unit. Use the Pre-Unit Assessment Analysis Guide to identify gaps in foundational understanding and map out a plan for learning acceleration throughout the unit.

Mid-Unit

Have students complete the Mid-Unit Assessment after Lesson 11.

Post-Unit

Use the resources below to assess student understanding of the unit content and action plan for future units.

Expanded Assessment Package

Use student data to drive instruction with an expanded suite of assessments. Unlock Pre-Unit and Mid-Unit Assessments, and detailed Assessment Analysis Guides to help assess foundational skills, progress with unit content, and help inform your planning.

Unit Prep

Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the standards, big ideas, and connections to prior and future content through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

Internalization of Standards via the Post-Unit Assessment

  • Take the Post-Unit Assessment. Annotate for: 
    • Standards that each question aligns to
    • Strategies and representations used in daily lessons
    • Relationship to Essential Understandings of unit 
    • Lesson(s) that Assessment points to

Internalization of Trajectory of Unit

  • Read and annotate the Unit Summary.
  • Notice the progression of concepts through the unit using the Lesson Map.
  • Do all Target Tasks. Annotate the Target Tasks for: 
    • Essential Understandings
    • Connection to Post-Unit Assessment questions
  • Identify key opportunities to engage students in academic discourse. Read through our Teacher Tool on Academic Discourse
     and refer back to it throughout the unit.

Unit-Specific Intellectual Prep

Essential Understandings

  • When two lines intersect, a pair of congruent vertical angles are created. This angle relationship, along with complementary and supplementary angle relationships, can be used to determine missing angle measures in diagrams. 
  • A circle is a closed shape that is defined by the set of points that are the same distance from the center of the circle. The distance from the center to any point on the circle is called the radius, and the distance across the circle through the center is called the diameter. The measurement around a circle is called the circumference and is proportional to the diameter of the circle with a constant of proportionality equivalent to π. The area of a circle can be found using the formula A=πr2.
  • In any triangle, the sum of any two side lengths must be longer than the measure of the third side. Given different conditions about the side and angle measures of a triangle, one unique triangle may be formed, more than one triangle may be formed, or no triangle may be formed.  

Materials

  • 180° Protractor (1 per student)
  • String (1 per student)
  • Compass (1 per student)
  • Graph Paper (2-3 sheets per student)
  • Blank Paper (2-3 sheets per student)
  • Ruler (1 per student)
  • Circles handout (1 per student)
  • AngLegs or prepared wooden skewers (1 per student or small group) — See the blog post Triangle Inequality Skewers by Elissa Miller for guidance on how to prepare wooden skewers.

To see all the materials needed for this course, view our 7th Grade Course Material Overview.

Vocabulary

Triangle Inequality Theorem

adjacent angles

circumference

complementary angles

cross-section

diameter

radius

surface area

supplementary angles

vertical angles

volume

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 6 , view our 7th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Lesson Map

Topic A: Angle Relationships

Topic B: Circles

Topic C: Building Polygons and Triangles

Topic D: Solid Figures

Common Core Standards

Key

Major Cluster

Supporting Cluster

Additional Cluster

Core Standards

Geometry

  • 7.G.A.2 — Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.
  • 7.G.A.3 — Describe the two-dimensional figures that result from slicing three-dimensional figures, as in plane sections of right rectangular prisms and right rectangular pyramids.
  • 7.G.B.4 — Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems; give an informal derivation of the relationship between the circumference and area of a circle.
  • 7.G.B.5 — Use facts about supplementary, complementary, vertical, and adjacent angles in a multi-step problem to write and solve simple equations for an unknown angle in a figure.
  • 7.G.B.6 — Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms.

Foundational Standards

Geometry

  • 5.G.B.3
  • 6.G.A.1
  • 6.G.A.2
  • 6.G.A.4
  • 7.G.A.1

Measurement and Data

  • 4.MD.A.3
  • 4.MD.C.5
  • 4.MD.C.6
  • 4.MD.C.7
  • 5.MD.C.3
  • 5.MD.C.5

Ratios and Proportional Relationships

  • 7.RP.A.2

Future Standards

Congruence

  • G.CO.B.7
  • G.CO.B.8

Geometry

  • 8.G.A.5
  • 8.G.B.6
  • 8.G.B.7
  • 8.G.C.9

Standards for Mathematical Practice

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 — Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 — Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3 — Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 — Model with mathematics.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 — Use appropriate tools strategically.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP6 — Attend to precision.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 — Look for and make use of structure.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP8 — Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Read Next

Geometry
Lesson 1
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