You'll learn how to prove that every trapezoid has two pairs of supplementary angles with this interactive video from the School Yourself Geometry series.
In Module 2, Topic C, on the definition and properties of congruence, students learn that congruence is just a sequence of basic rigid motions. The fundamental properties shared by all the basic rigid motions are then inherited by congruence: congruence moves lines to lines and angles to angles, and it is both distance- and degree-preserving (Lesson 11). In Grade 7, students used facts about supplementary, complementary, vertical, and adjacent angles to find the measures of unknown angles (7.G.5). This module extends that knowledge to angle relationships that are formed when two parallel lines are cut by a transversal. In Topic C, on angle relationships related to parallel lines, students learn that pairs of angles are congruent because they are angles that have been translated along a transversal, rotated around a point, or reflected across a line. Students use this knowledge of angle relationships in Lessons 13 and 14 to show why a triangle has a sum of interior angles equal to 180˚ and why the exterior angles of a triangle are the sum of the two remote interior angles of the triangle.
Module 3, Topic B begins with the definition of similarity and the properties of similarities. In Lesson 8, students learn that similarities map lines to lines, change the length of segments by factor r, and are degree-preserving. In Lesson 9, additional properties about similarity are investigated; first, students learn that congruence implies similarity (e.g., congruent figures are also similar). Next, students learn that similarity is symmetric (e.g., if figure A is similar to figure B, then figure B is similar to figure A) and transitive (e.g., if figure A is similar to figure B, and figure B is similar to figure C, then figure A is similar to figure C.) Finally, students learn about similarity with respect to triangles.
Lesson 10 provides students with an informal proof of the angle-angle criterion for similarity of triangles. Lesson 10 also provides opportunities for students to use the AA criterion to determine if a pair of triangles is similar. In Lesson 11, students use what they know about similar triangles and dilation to find an unknown side length of one triangle. Since students know that similar triangles have side lengths that are equal in ratio (specifically equal to the scale factor), students verify whether or not a pair of triangles is similar by comparing their corresponding side lengths.
In Lesson 12, students apply their knowledge of similar triangles and dilation to real world situations. For example, students use the height of a person and the height of his shadow to determine the height of a tree. Students may also use their knowledge to determine the distance across a lake, the height of a building, and the height of a flagpole.
