Dear M,
There are a lot of quite nice resources online that help to build the skills of estimating and measuring angles. Using a protractor is about 3 times more confusing than using a ruler, so it’s something that needs a whole lot of practice. If I was Prime Minister, then angles on exam papers would always be TRUE angles so you could use REAL estimation skills to work them out, but they aren’t. Oh, and I’m not Prime Minister…. As we discussed today in our lesson, it doesn’t matter if you photocopy an angle larger or smaller, it stays the same size (which is pretty weird when you put it like that….. most things DO get bigger when they get bigger, don’t they!)
I have ordered the builders’ angle measurer that we looked at online and chatted to the plumbers who are in my house today who don’t use one of those but thought it sounded incredibly useful!
Link to the online game of measuring angles on screen….
Brilliant “make an angle game” that we played, and you were so good at! The link takes you to the start screen – we skipped the intro then chose “make the angles game”. To practice full-on measuring, where you have to place the protractor without any help from the computer, the option to pick is “up to 180 degrees in ones”.
Build your own printable worksheet (to use with a real protractor) – gave you one to do, here is a link to it just in case, feel free to make some more worksheets if you want more practice.
I wonder how you will get on, measuring angles over 180 degrees, when your own protractor only goes up to 180…. It’s a genuine mathematical problem, and I think that if you give it 5 minutes of careful thought, you may come up with something. It isn’t impossible, but it isn’t obvious either. As always, if you can figure out your own solution, you are MUCH more likely to remember it!
If your mind goes a blank when you try to use your 180 degree protractor, I would recommend this video because the teacher is making an effort to not be boring, is quite funny, but rather quiet, so you’ll have to listen carefully!
Maths Tutor Bournemouth 