Constructing scale drawings

The topic  appears under the 7th Grade Math Mission. This exercise uses a coordinate plane and ratios to connect geometry and algebra in a meaningful way.

Types of Problems
There is one type of problem in this exercise:


 * 1) Construct the scale diagram: This problem presents a story problem involving a geometric shape. The student is asked to use the grid to construct an appropriate shape to complete the problem.Csd1.png

Strategies
Knowledge of ratios or scaling is needed for this problem, although coordinate graphing is not.
 * 1) The manipulative automatically labels lengths of segments which can help to improve speed without having to measure each individually.
 * 2) Some problems do not define a scale and say that any scale can be used. On these problems there is usually a convenient scale (often two) which can be used to make sides integer length.
 * 3) All of the end points will be on specific spots in the grid. If the lengths are not working out it is important to read the problem carefully.