Lesson 4

In this lesson, students apply dilations to polygons on a grid, both with and without coordinates. The grid offers a way of measuring distances between points, especially points that lie at the intersection of grid lines. If point \(Q\) is three grid squares to the right and two grid squares up from \(P\) then the dilation with center \(P\) of \(Q\) with scale factor 4 can be found by counting grid squares: it will be twelve grid squares to the right of \(P\) and eight grid squares up from \(P\). The coordinate grid gives a more concise way to describe this dilation. If the center \(P\) is \((0,0)\) then \(Q\) has coordinates \((3,2)\). The image of \(Q\) after this dilation is \((12,8)\).

Students continue to find dilations of polygons, providing additional evidence that dilations map line segments to line segments and hence polygons to polygons. The scale factor of the dilation determines the factor by which the length of those segments increases or decreases. Using coordinates to describe points in the plane helps students develop language for precisely communicating figures in the plane and their images under dilations (MP6). Strategically using coordinates to perform and describe dilations is also a good example of MP7.

Print and cut one copy of the blackline master for each student.