Discover the Area of a Triangle

Author:
Lane Tait
Topic:
Area
Feel free to adjust the vertices of the triangle as you see fit. When you have adjusted the triangle to your liking, click the "Show/Hide Midpoint" button before using the slider. Answer the questions below on a separate piece of paper.
Questions: 1) When adjusting the slider, describe the transformation that you see taking place. 2) After completing the transformation, how do you think the area of the green triangle compares to the area of the original pink triangle? Justify your answer. 3) After completing the transformation, what larger shape is formed? 4) How much area of the larger shape do you think is covered by the pink triangle? 5) Since we know that the area of a parallelogram is base*height, come up with your own conjecture for the area of a triangle.