How Similar Triangles Freed an Innocent Man From Jail
For this activity, students will read the newspaper article below. This article describes the story of an innocent man who was freed from jail because of evidence that overturned his previous guilty verdict. The evidence is that, using surveillance video footage, a light source on a nearby building, and the man's shadow, the mathematically-skilled defense attorney found, using similar triangles, that the man was shorter than the actual suspect. Students will use the information in the article and their prior knowledge of similar triangles to draw out a picture of the crime scene using similar triangles. They will then use this information to explain how, using proper mathematical language, how the defense attorney solved the problem and ultimately found the innocent man to be not guilty.
I chose this as an activity because it involves a real-life situation that requires similar triangles in order to solve. Students must apply what they know about similar triangles in order to solve a problem and explain how they solved that problem. This gives students a real-life context that allows for students to explain their solutions and thought processes in the context of the problem.
I chose this as an activity because it involves a real-life situation that requires similar triangles in order to solve. Students must apply what they know about similar triangles in order to solve a problem and explain how they solved that problem. This gives students a real-life context that allows for students to explain their solutions and thought processes in the context of the problem.
Learning Targets:
- I can use information given to me to set up a problem using similar triangles
- I can solve problems involving similar triangles
- I can justify all of the steps used in my solution to a similar triangles problem