1. The document provides instructions for an experiment to investigate the relationship between midsegments and sides of triangles. Students are asked to draw 4 triangles with given vertex coordinates and find the midpoints and slopes of the sides and midsegments. 2. Students then fill out a table with information about the slopes and lengths of the sides and midsegments and answer questions about relationships between them. 3. The goal is to formulate a conjecture about the relationship between a midsegment and a side of a triangle based on the experiment.

1. Notes
Geometry
Name: ___________________________________________
Date: ___________________________ Period: __________
5.1 MIDSEGMENTS LAB
QUESTION: How are the midsegments of a triangle related to the sides of the triangle?
STEPS: 1. Draw a triangle OAB using the coordinates given on the table below.
2. Find the midpoints of OA and OB, and label them D and E. Connect them to
create the midsegment.
3. Fill in the information in the table below and compare to formulate a theorem.
Triangle 1
Triangle 2
Triangle 3
Triangle 4
O
(0, 0)
(0, 0)
(0, 0)
(0, 0)
A
(0, 8)
(0, 10)
(0, 11)
(6, 6)
B
D
(midpoint of AO)
E
(Midpoint of BO)
(6, 0)
(-4, 0)
(5, 0)
(-4, -4)
Slope of AB
Slope of DE
Length of AB
Length of DE
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AFTER FILLING OUT THE TABLE ABOVE
1.
What do you notice about the slopes of AB and DE in every case?
What is the relationship between the two lines?
2.
What do you notice about the lengths of AB and DE in every case?
3.
Can you write a conjecture about the relationship between a midsegment and a side of a triangle?