Critical Thinking Co. "Understanding Geometry"?

[Penguin]

I am thinking about buying Critical Thinking Company's Understanding Geometry.

 

Has anyone seen or used this?

[mom31257]

That looks awesome! Thank you for posting. I think I know something I'll be adding to ds' middle school math courses.

[BlessedMom]

Thank you for sharing this resource and the link.

[Pen]

I have it, but have not used it yet.

[SnegurochkaL]

I was thinking about the book,but decided against purchasing it just because my daughter had already been exposed to a lot of geometry concepts and we don't need another review book. She decided to try Math spider II games which are intended for 7-8 grade, which should be about her level in math.

[Penguin]

Pen, have you looked through the book? I was particularly intrigued by the sample pages that introduce proofs. Looking at the table of contents, I think that only a handful of the pages address proofs but it is hard to really tell from the online sample.

[Murrayshire]

I have the book in front of me that I got at our convention yesterday. Starting in Chp. 11, they introduce proofs: Proving Triangles Congruent (2 pages), Then moving to Good Geometric Proofs(3pages), Two Column Proofs (4-5 pages), Similarity Proofs (5pages). In Chp. 12, Introduction to Coordinate Proofs (10pages). I was talking to a math teacher that was working in the Critical Thinking booth and he said that this is the book he uses in his Geometry class. Not as a supplement, but as a spine. He also said that this would actually count as a high school credit if used in one year of math. Apparently that's what he is doing! I thought that to be interesting, though I'm not sure I would use it by itself. Then again, I'm not the mathy person. I could see pairing this up with Khan Academy to get a full credit of geometry in high school. Us, we just plan to use it for a supplement to get her better acquainted with geometry and he thought that was an excellent idea. Hope the chapter examples help you with your decision!

[Pen]

Pen, have you looked through the book? I was particularly intrigued by the sample pages that introduce proofs. Looking at the table of contents, I think that only a handful of the pages address proofs but it is hard to really tell from the online sample.

 

 

It is at the bottom of a box, but my recollection is that it was mainly not proof oriented, rather giving things that might be easier for younger kids to do, and leaving complicated proof more till high school geometry. More things like figuring out missing angles from given information and so on. The sort of thing one sees on SAT tests. I realize this seems to conflict with the above post from someone with it open right now, but maybe it depends on what level HS geometry one would be considering, whether it does or does not have a high school level of proofs.

[Penguin]

Thanks Pen and Murrayshire. I think that this is something for us to try. We do geometry on Fridays and I like to have some variety. I wasn't expecting complicated HS proofs, just an introduction - so this should be fine.

[dereksurfs]

Penguin, I really like that idea of doing a lighter Geometry once a week while working through Algebra. I already have patty paper Geo which is much lighter than this text looks. But I like the idea of pulling from both before starting a more formal proof based high school Geometry.

[Murrayshire]

Thanks Pen and Murrayshire. I think that this is something for us to try. We do geometry on Fridays and I like to have some variety. I wasn't expecting complicated HS proofs, just an introduction - so this should be fine.

 

DD will be working through geometry on Fridays, too, and Algebra I throughout the week. I think this will give her a great intro to geometry!

[Lilaclady]

Thanks for the review Murrayshire. I wonder why the person at the booth is using it as a high school text when it is being marketed as a middle school text.

[Arcadia]

Thanks for the review Murrayshire. I wonder why the person at the booth is using it as a high school text when it is being marketed as a middle school text.

 

 

Cathy Duffy's review was that this book is for grade 7-9 as an intro to high school geometry.

http://cathyduffyreviews.com/math/Understanding-Geometry.htm

[Penguin]

It looks like a middle school text to me, but that is what I want. So...YAY :)

 

dereksurfs, DS did geometry every Friday this year (his first year at home) and it was great for both variety and retention. We will continue along the same path next year.

[Murrayshire]

The book itself says grades 7-9 on the cover. Not sure why he uses it for high school.....could be, too, that he adds more to it but just didn't say.

[Lilaclady]

Good to know. It seems like a nice supplement in middle school.

[dovrar]

From reading the description on the Critical Thinking website it can be used over two years for middle school or done in one year for high school geometry. 

 

 

This book can be used as a classroom textbook in Grades 7, 8, or 9 (usually over a two year period). In many high schools this book can also be used as a one year high school geometry course. This book follows the National Math Standards in mathematics but it goes further.