Activities to Teach Students to Find Measures of Complementary, Supplementary, Vertical, and Adjacent Angles

As a math teacher, one of your main goals is to help your students understand the different types of angles and how to calculate their measures. Among these types, complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles stand out as foundational concepts that students must learn.
Fortunately, there are many fun and engaging activities you can use to teach these concepts and help your students develop a deep understanding of them. Here are some of the best activities you can try:
1. Angle hunt:
This activity involves sending your students on a scavenger hunt around the classroom to find different types of angles. Ask them to find examples of complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles and measure their angles with a protractor. You could also make this activity a bit more challenging by asking them to find examples of angles formed by parallel lines and transversals.
2. Angle bingo:
This classic game can be adapted to teach angle concepts. Create bingo cards with different pairs of angles on them, such as 60 and 30 degrees for complementary angles, or 120 and 60 for supplementary angles. Call out angle measurements, and have students mark the corresponding pair of angles on their cards. The first student to get a bingo wins!
3. Angle art:
Give each student a large sheet of construction paper and a protractor. Ask them to draw and label different types of angles in different colors, using complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles as their building blocks. Once they have a good collection of angles, they can use the angles to create a fun and colorful angle creature or design.
4. Angle dominoes:
This game is played with domino tiles that have different angle measures on them. Students must match tiles that create pairs of complementary, supplementary, vertical, or adjacent angles, making sure that the angles add up to a specific degree measure. This game is a fun way to practice calculating angle measures while also developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
5. Angle charades:
In this game, students act out different types of angles while their classmates try to guess what type of angle they are portraying. For example, a student might demonstrate two 45-degree angles that add up to a right angle to represent complementary angles. This game is a great way to get students up and moving and to encourage creativity and collaboration.
These are just a few examples of the many activities you can use to teach your students about complementary, supplementary, vertical, and adjacent angles. By making angle concepts fun and engaging, you can help your students develop a deep understanding of these essential math concepts that will serve them well throughout their academic careers.