Crewton Ramone Two Shorts on Geometry

Remembering  complimentary angles and supplementary angles can be tricky. It also causes some people to think all math is, is memorization.

I always hear questions like, "can this do algebra, can this do geometry, can this do calculus?"...with "this" meaning Mortensen Math and the blocks. How do you apply manipulatives to Geometry or Trig? The basic concepts remain the same throughout the mathematics.

In cases like this all we are doing is learning vocabulary:



So there is a fast way to remember vocabulary. The problem is when you confuse vocabulary with understanding concepts or where you confuse memorization with conceptualization and problem solving. Some seem to think there is no difference between memorizing vocabulary words and memorizing formulae or addends or multiplication tables. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can "figure out" or use an algorithm that requires some thinking and doing to derive the quadratic, or even πr² or something simple like how to remember 9's times tables rather than just commit a bunch of facts to memory but with definitions there is no "figuring out" per se you either know it or you don't.

Although with reasoning and logic you may use induction or deduction to figure out a word's meaning it's not quite the same as knowing enough algebra to solve for x when given a second degree polynomial in standard form set equal to zero.

ax² + bx + c = 0 and coming up with the quadratic formula...and just memorizing the quadratic formula. With complimentary angles and supplementary angles it is very difficult to deduce which one means two angles which when added add up to 90 degrees and which one means two angles which when added add up to 180 degrees, unless you know quite a bit more English than the average highschooler has at their command...you either know what "table" means or you don't. Same with complimentary angles and supplementary angles. Don't confuse memorizing definitions of words or terms with wrote memorization of formula.

Now once we have the definitions down we can start to do some simple problem solving.



Turns out this stuff was super easy after all. We also covered distance formula which as just slightly advanced Pythagorean Theorem and a few or math terms and definitions that come with geometry like parallel and perpendicular, and then the names of angles, and poof, a few problems and the hour was over.