Hi! My son has been working independently on the Geometric Approach so I am somewhat lost when he comes to me with a question (even after I try to review the earlier lessons leading up to the problem). I am hopeful you will be able to catch me up so I can help him with the chart on Worksheet 9-1. I see that the chart's first division multiplied by the second division equals the number of pieces. Are the answers interchangable and may other combinations work? For instance, for 18 pieces, may he use 6 as the first division and 3 as the second division -or- may he use 2 as the first division and 9 as the second division? Thank you for helping this momma!

Hi, Lori.

You are correct. You are basically looking for 2 numbers that multiply together to equal the number of pieces you are splitting the triangle into. If you are trying to split a triangle into 18 pieces, you can split the triangle into 9 pieces and then split each of the 9 pieces in half. (9 x 2 is 18). Another option, you can also split the triangle into 6 pieces and then each of the 6 pieces into 3 more pieces. (6 x 3 is 18). You can see a sample of the triangle divided into 6's on worksheet 5.

I hope that has helped, but if you have further questions, you can feel free to call RightStart's help desk at (888)272-3291 or email them at info@alabacus.com.

Have a wonderful day!
Rachel