Fun Pythagorean Theorem Activities and Teaching Ideas

Fun Pythagorean Theorem activity ideas

This is a bit embarrassing, but because I try my best to swallow my pride and embrace growth mindset, here I am fessing up... It wasn't until my first year teaching that I finally realized what a2 + b2 = c2 really meant. 

The teacher next to me had assigned a Pythagorean Theorem activity and decorated the halls with his students' finished work. It was looking at all of those activities that finally drove home that the theorem had a real, concrete proof. It was a cool realization. It was this same teacher who made me realize the value of math word walls and displaying student work. 

Are you teaching the Pythagorean Theorem? This post is a roundup of fun Pythagorean Theorem activities and teaching ideas. Students in 8th grade math and geometry will love the interactive ideas in this post. Included games, worksheets, notes, independent work, activities that make for great centers and stations and a lot more.

Since that time, I have gone all in on math word walls because of how well they work for my students. And more recently, I converted all of my math word walls to include digital versions so that students working online can still access to their vocabulary references. I added a Pythagorean Theorem reference to this digital math word wall for Geometry:

digital Geometry Word Wall with Pythagorean Theorem reference
digital geometry word wall - home

Clicking on the Pythagorean Theorem image from the home screen above opens up a room where the Pythagorean Theorem, Distance and Midpoint formulas are all displayed:

Pythagorean Theorem math word wall reference
Pythagorean Theorem room

To be fair to myself about the whole Pythagorean Theorem proof situation from above, I had started as a biology teacher teaching algebra and at that time hadn't seen the inside of a geometry book since I myself had been in high school. But I'll never forget those Geometry activities displayed on the wall. They were a nice reminder that, however old we are, we never stop learning. 

Pythagorean Theorem water proof

If only there had been GIFs when I was in high school!

Pythagorean Theorem Digital Math Escape Room
Pythagorean Theorem digital math escape room - puzzle #5

Converting all of those math word walls to digital finally ended my digital foot-dragging and I am now thoroughly enjoying all of the possibilities that come along with making digital activities. Self-checking, color, no paper or ink. The color is probably my favorite thing. I've been in such a mindset to only create things that can be printed in black and white that all the color options have been a whole new world. Here are puzzles 5 and 3 of a Pythagorean Theorem digital math escape room

Pythagorean Theorem math escape room activity
Pythagorean Theorem digital math escape room - puzzle #3

This escape room covers finding missing leg and hypotenuse lengths, plus some area questions to bring in prior knowledge. The digital math escape rooms I've been making are answer-validated Google Forms with no outside links. Everything is right there in the Form. Students enter codes to unlock each puzzle lock. I wanted to make them easy for teachers to use and fun for students. 


distance on the coordinate plane

Here is a related escape room for distance on the coordinate plane.


Back in 2004 Teachergram wasn't yet a thing. If it was, I'm sure things would have been very different about my first years of teaching. These days with social media, the ideas are constantly flying, making us all better teachers. And learners!

Through social media, blogging and TPT, I've also made some good math teacher friends (who I lovingly refer to as my "math friends") and in this post I want to share some of their fun Pythagorean Theorem activities.

The Pythagorean Theorem in real life! This was a cool moment on Homestead Rescue when Marty Raney showed a homesteader how to square up the corner of a building using the Pythagorean triple 3-4-5.
watch clip on YouTube

Here's an awesome clip of Marty Raney from Homestead Rescue teaching a homesteader how to use the Pythagorean Theorem to square up a corner!


Pythagorean Theorem discovery worksheet

If proving the Pythagorean Theorem had been a thing when I was in 8th grade math, maybe my first year of teaching wouldn't have been so... eye-opening. Amanda from Free to Discover made this Pythagorean Theorem Proof Discovery Worksheet to prove the theorem.

Pythagorean Theorem bookmark notes

Kara from Learning Made Radical has been making these great math bookmark notes that I can just imagine kids referring to late at night while doing homework. She made this set of Pythagorean Theorem Bookmark Notes

Pythagorean Theorem math pennant activity
Pythagorean Theorem math pennant activity

It's hard for me to believe that I've made over 100 math pennantsOf all of them, this Pythagorean Theorem Math Pennant was one of the most difficult to make because of all of the graphics. Students find missing side lengths of the inner right triangles, areas and perimeters. 

Pythagorean Theorem partner scavenger hunt

Kara from Learning Made Radial and I have been collaborating on partner scavenger hunt activities that get students working together on their math. 

I had a senior a few years ago who had a boyfriend who she never spoke to face-to-face. This got me thinking about kids and how they need time during their day for meaningful conversation. Kara made this Pythagorean Theorem Partner Scavenger Hunt activity.

This new Pythagorean Theorem activity gives students practice finding missing side lengths of right triangles as well as identifying errors as they arise. Some answers require students to round to the nearest hundredth.

This new "2 truths and a lie" Pythagorean Theorem activity asks students to find errors when presented with a missing hypotenuse or missing leg lengths. Students get practice with the Pythagorean Theorem and also with identifying errors as they arise.  


Pythagorean Theorem hole punch game

Kara also made this fun Pythagorean Theorem Hole Punch Game

Pythagorean Theorem word problems coloring worksheet

Karrie from Mrs. E Teaches Math made this Pythagorean Theorem Word Problem Coloring Sheet

Voyage to the Treasure! Pythagorean Theorem game
Pythagorean Theorem Voyage to the Treasure! game

Alex from Middle School Math Man and I have been collaborating on a new math game series called Voyage to the Treasure!

Voyage to the Treasure! Pythagorean Theorem game
Pythagorean Theorem Voyage to the Treasure! game

In these new math games, students are on the same team, working through math problems as they try to beat the Math Monster to the treasure. The one above is Voyage to the Treasure! Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagorean Theorem puzzle

Here is a Pythagorean Theorem Cut, Paste, Solve and Match puzzle where students set up and solve Pythagorean Theorem problems. 

Pythagorean Theorem color by number worksheet

Hayley from Activity After Math made this Pythagorean Theorem Color By Number activity where students find a missing leg, hypotenuse, converse or the distance between two points. 

Pythagorean Theorem task cards

Hayley also made this set of Pythagorean Theorem Task Cards with QR codes. 

Pythagorean Theorem scavenger hunt

I've always had a lot of success with scavenger hunts with my students. They really seem to enjoy them. Alex made this Pythagorean Theorem Scavenger Hunt for 8th grade math students.

Pythagorean Theorem proof without words activity

Karrie wrote a great post called The Pythagorean Theorem Without Words over on her blog. The image above from her post is Perigal's Puzzle. 

Karrie also pulled together a list of her favorite Pythagorean Theorem resources in her post 7 Ideas for Teaching the Pythagorean Theorem.


If you have Geometry students who speak Spanish, this wordless Pythagorean Theorem proof has some funny outtakes at the end! Actually, they're even funny if you don't speak Spanish. 


I hope you are having a wonderful year!

4 comments:

  1. Thank you. This is great.

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  2. Thank you for all your hard work in providing resources for math teachers. I use a lot of these for scaffolding and differentiating for my high school students who are at the pre-algebra instructional level.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's really my pleasure, Ms. Turner. Thank you for reading my blog and leaving a comment. I know how tough your job is, so thank you also for all your hard work. I hope you and your students are having a great year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 21, 2023

    Thank you sm!! ur so helpfull~

    ReplyDelete

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