Wheels of Theodorus
During our study of radical numbers, I showed students how easy it was to draw a line of length √2. In class we used square templates to draw two adjacent sides of a 1 inch by 1 inch square. Then the diagonal of that square, although being a difficult number to write as a decimal, was easily visualized as √2. We spent ½ of a class period using the hypotenuse of a 1 - 1 - √2 triangle and a new 1 inch, right-angled leg, to create a new right triangle adjacent to the first = 1 - √2 - √3 triangle.
After that class period involving drawing adjacent right triangles and using the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the hypotenuses, the Wheel of Theodorus assignment was set as an at-home project.
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![]() Mollie made a beautiful Wheel that reminded her of a shell on the beach. |
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Will made a scary monster snail-thing for his Wheel. |
Kristina's involved a tongue and a lolly pop. |
Luke's was interesting. |
Melanie drew a beach ball in use. |
Jessica's sun |
Ben created a snail on the beach. |