Lesson 1 - Introduction To Pythagoras (Twinkl)

Pythagoras’ Theorem in 2D Shapes
An Introduction to Pythagoras
Learning Objective
To demonstrate an understanding of Pythagoras’ theorem.
Success Criteria
• To identify what Pythagoras’ theorem is and recall some basic facts
about him.
• To use Pythagoras’ theorem to solve a real-world problem.
• To demonstrate Pythagoras’ theorem visually.
A Puzzling Beginning
Cut each
shape out and
fit them back
into the
square, like
a tangram.
Py…Who?
Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician
who was alive from c.580BC-c.500BC.
Very little is known about his life except that he
travelled a lot in his youth. He eventually settled
in Crotona in Southern Italy, where he started
teaching. He soon had a small circle of students
who lived a life of study which was inspired by
philosophy based around mathematics. This
circle of students became known as
‘Pythagoreans’.
He discovered several ideas:

•the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles;
•the square of the hypotenuse (the longest side opposite the right angle) is equal to
the sum of the squares of the other two sides;
•many also believe that Pythagoreans discovered the dodecahedron.
Farmyard Problem
The map shows a triangular
farmyard with three fields connected
along its edges.
The triangle is right-angled and each field 2

field is square. If you have to share
the grazing land with two other
people and want as much land as
farmyard
possible, which will you pick?
field 1 field 3
Hopefully you chose field 3, as

it is the largest.
One Large or Two Small?
What if you were sharing the land with just one other farmer and
you had to pick between having both fields 1 and 2, or only having
field 3? Which option would you take?
This is harder to decide. Remember, you want as much grazing land

as possible.
Try drawing your own triangular farmyard. As long as the triangle

is right-angled, it does not matter what the specific lengths of the
sides are.
How would you work out the area of each square field? Remember
that the four sides of the square will be the same as the length of the
farmyard side to which it is connected.
You may be able to work out the areas of the squares

without having to draw them.
One Large or Two Small?
When you’ve finished working out the areas of your three
squares, chat with your partner to compare results.
Can you come to a decision as a pair?
You should have found that the area of the large field was the
same as the sum of the area of the two smaller fields.
Your results may not have shown this exactly, depending on the
accuracy of your measurements, but they should have been close.
Tangrams
Draw any right-angled triangle. Drawing
on squared paper will make this easier.
Make sure that there is plenty of space

around the triangle, as you’ll need to
draw squares off the sides like in the
farmyard example.
You can draw any size you want, but it

will be easier to calculate the size of
your fields if you keep the shorter sides
to whole centimetres.
Tangrams
Draw a square on each side of
the triangle.
On the sloping side that does not follow

the lines of your paper, you will need a
protractor or set square as well as a ruler
to make sure that your square is
accurately drawn.
Tangrams
Once you have done this, find the square
which is drawn on the second longest
side and locate its centre; you can do this
by drawing the diagonals in faintly and
seeing where they cross.
×
Tangrams
You now need to draw a line which
passes through this centre point, is
parallel to the hypotenuse of the triangle
and is contained within the square. The
grid on the paper should help you line
this up.
Once you have done this, draw another

line which goes through the centre point
of the same square and is perpendicular
to the line you have just drawn. Again,
the grid on the paper should help you ×
line this up.
Proving Pythagoras’ Theorem Visually
We concluded in the farmyard exercise that
the area of the field on the long
side was the sum of the areas of the
two fields on the short sides.
To prove this, we’re going to try to fit the

pieces from the small two squares into the
large square from the triangle you have
drawn.
Cut out the two small squares and cut along

the lines you drew on the larger of the two.
This should give you five pieces.
Proving Pythagoras’ Theorem Visually
Now try to arrange these five
pieces to fit perfectly in the large
square.
Tip: have the centre of the small

square line up with the centre of
the large square.
Pythagoras’ Theorem
We’ve looked at various ways of showing that the area of the square on the long
side of a right-angled triangle is the same as the sum of the areas of the squares on
the other sides.
This is Pythagoras’ theorem.
It is also written as a2 + b2 = c2, where a and b are the lengths of the shorter sides
and c is the length of the longer side.
c
a
b
Plenary
Create a quick guide card about
Pythagoras to help you remember the
key points of this lesson.
Write three facts you learnt about
Pythagoras below the picture. Above
the picture, write down the one
formula you must remember.

Lesson 1 - Introduction To Pythagoras (Twinkl)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 1 - Introduction To Pythagoras (Twinkl)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 1 - Introduction To Pythagoras (Twinkl)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pythagoras’ Theorem in 2D Shapes

He discovered several ideas:

The triangle is right-angled and each field 2

Hopefully you chose field 3, as

This is harder to decide. Remember, you want as much grazing land

Try drawing your own triangular farmyard. As long as the triangle

You may be able to work out the areas of the squares

Make sure that there is plenty of space

You can draw any size you want, but it

On the sloping side that does not follow

Once you have done this, draw another

To prove this, we’re going to try to fit the

Cut out the two small squares and cut along

Tip: have the centre of the small

This is Pythagoras’ theorem.

You might also like