Virginia SOL 4.MG.5.d.ii
The Standard
perpendicular sides
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will classify and describe quadrilaterals (parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, and/or trapezoids) using specific properties and attributes.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students check where adjacent sides meet to decide whether they are perpendicular. They compare quadrilaterals by the number and location of right angles, then use that evidence to support classifications.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student marks every right angle and names the side pairs that meet perpendicularly. The student handles rotated figures correctly and explains that squares and rectangles both have four perpendicular side pairs.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often confuse perpendicular sides with parallel sides. They may think perpendicular segments must be vertical and horizontal, so they miss right angles in rotated figures. Some assume every rhombus has perpendicular adjacent sides or that a right trapezoid cannot have them.
How to Assess It
- Display a tilted square, a nonsquare rectangle, a right trapezoid, and a nonrectangular parallelogram. Students mark every perpendicular side pair and group figures with matching results.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Students build five quadrilaterals with craft sticks, then test each corner with an index card corner and label perpendicular side pairs.
Show a square and a nonsquare rectangle, then ask, “How are their perpendicular sides alike, and what property makes them different?”
Teams sort rotated quadrilateral cards into “has perpendicular sides” and “does not,” then defend one placement by naming the tested corner.
Students inspect a window frame, tabletop, and slanted sign, then record which adjacent edges are perpendicular and how they checked.
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Related Standards
- 4.MG.5.d.iii
congruence of sides; and
- 4.MG.5.d.i
parallel sides;
- 4.MG.5.c
Identify and describe parallel, intersecting, perpendicular, and congruent sides in quadrilaterals.
- 7.MG.3.a.i
Compare and contrast properties of the following quadrilaterals: parallelogram, rectangle, square, rhombus, and trapezoid: parallel/perpendicular sides and diag...
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