What is a power polygon? - Answers

A set of manipulatives that are used in elementary math instruction. They can be used in a variety of manners from basic sorting activities and geometric shape exploration to higher level math skills. One person felt.... A really badly implemented idea being used in grade school curriculum for teaching geometry. The concept is to use a set of simple shapes called "power polygons" as tools. These tools are used for tasks such as assembling more complex shapes. This idea, by itself, could be very good for teaching children how to visualize shapes and to break the shapes down. However, this idea of power polygons have become nothing more than another abused idea to create overly convoluted problems and explanations. Examples (using my wording): (Given a shape such as an isosceles trapezoid) Determine the degrees in a given angle using power polygons. (Given a shape such as a large isosceles triangle) Divide the shape into power polygons. At first glance this may seem like an interesting way to explain shapes, but it usually degenerates into overly complicated assignments that children do not understand and completion is usually dependent on outside help such as from parents.