Vocabulary in Geoemetry

Vocabulary in Geometry is very important. When kids are little is is very easy to call everything that is round a circle, or with four sides a square (or diamond). As adults, especially as educations, we should use the correct terms (parallelogram, trapazoid, rhombus, ect) even if the words are lost on kids then it will help them as they get older. I am amazed how many High School students still do not know what a trapezoid is or why a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square.  

Using the correct vocabulary is not just important in Geometry but in other math subjects as well. I try very hard to use the defition of words every time we do something. For example, when we are graphing Linear Equations in Slope-intercept form I am very careful to not only go over the equation (y = mx + b) each time, but also what each letter stands for. Not only do we discuss that a Linear Equation means the graph will be a line, but also that m is for Slope (rise over run) and b is the y-intercept (where the line crosses the y-axis).

Amy