Polygon 2
(page 124)

McKinley Elementary in Middletown, Ohio is fairly prolific (see other solutions to Polygons). Here is one from Cheryl Wyatt's class, where Mr. Harris is apparently a math teacher.

Hi! We're Ms. Wyatt's 6th Grade class from McKinley Elementary in Middletown, Ohio. In Mr. Harris' math class today, our group solved Polygon #2. Here is our solution:

A rhombus with sides of 4.5 cm. and one diagonal of 4.5 cm. and the other diagonal is 7.8 cm. (rounded to the nearest tenth.)

First, we used the characteristic clues to eliminate possible solutions. It was either a square or a rhombus. Second, we knew it could not be a rhombus because of the diagonal of 4.5 cm. It had to be a rhombus. Finally, Mr. Harris helped us to find the other diagonal by using the Pythagorean Theorem.

eeps comments: Very nice. But here's a question -- the clues ask for the area of the polygon. Did you figure that out? How did you do it? (The clues give some suggestions that do not require the Pythagorean Theorem).

Remember -- anybody can send in additional solutions!

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