Figures are mathematically similar when their side lengths are in a true proportion. You can use a ratio to find out if two shapes are similar. You find the ratio for the two shapes and cross multiply. If the two answers are the same, they are similar. Another way to find if two shapes are similar is by scale factor. A scale factor is a number that you can use to multiply the sides of a figure to get the corresponding side of a similar figure. Another way to tell if two shapes are similar is if they have similar shapes and the corresponding angles are congruent.

Any two rectangles are similar. FALSE. Two rectangles aren’t always similar because they don’t always have a scale factor. One rectangle could be 3 by 8 and another could be 5 by 9. There is no scale factor between these two shapes. All rectangles have similar shapes and corresponding angles that are similar, but that doesn’t mean that they have a scale factor or a true proportion.

Any two equilateral triangles are similar. TRUE. All equilateral triangles have the same general shape and the same angles, so even if the sizes and dimensions are different, they still have the same shapes and they are still similar.

This picture is showing good note taking because it’s neat and I got all of the information that I needed to get. It is neat and clear, so when I look back on it to study, I can tell what I wrote. I looked back into my notebook and I realized that I’m very good at note taking, so I don’t really have any bad notes.

I love math. My favorite year of math so far is 5th grade. For some reason, it all just clicked for me. I had never loved math in lower school. Math and I had a strange relationship. I would dread going to class every day and I would rush my homework as much as I could. My parents always pushed me to do better in math and I would always complain about it. But when I got to middle school, something about the learning environment or being in middle school made me start to love it.

Last year, I struggled a little bit. I think that I just wasn’t taking that many notes, so I fell a little bit behind. Also, Margaret was very helpful in having me take more notes and slowing down when I asked questions. Over the summer, my parents had me do a math tutor* and I think that REALLY helped. I will be continuing doing to extra math during the year, to help me with all of my homework.

I love math because of how precise it is. I love to organize things and I feel like math is just organizing numbers. I dislike math because it can be hard. My parents and lower school teachers have told me that I don’t work as hard as I can, and you have to work really hard in math.

I think that I am a good math student, because math is normally the class that I get the best grades in. My routine for studying is when I get home, I do all my homework and study afterword. I try to study for about 15 minutes in each subject. When I get stuck, I always have to remind myself to ask questions, because my instinct is to just ask a friend later.

A few things that you might want to know about me:
My favorite operation is multiplication.
My least favorite is division.
My favorite type of math is geometry because I like finding the area and perimeter of everything. After we learned geometry in 6th grade, I went home and found all of the triangles in my house and measured them.

I am really looking forward to this year in math!

*It isn’t exactly a tutor, it’s just to help me keep up my skills during the year. (At least, that’s what my parents told me.)