Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape

by Danica McKellar

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar makes it a breeze to excel in high school geometry!

Hollywood actress and math whiz Danica McKellar has completely shattered the “math nerd” stereotype. For years, she’s been showing girls how to feel confident and ace their math classes—with style! With Girls Get Curves, she applies her winning techniques to high school geometry, giving readers the tools they need to feel great and totally “get” everything from congruent triangles to theorems, and more. Inside you’ll find:

• Time-saving tips and tricks for homework and tests
• Illuminating practice problems (and proofs!) with detailed solutions
• Totally relateable real-world examples
• True stories from Danica’s own life as an actress and math student
• A Troubleshooting Guide, for getting unstuck during even the trickiest proofs!

With Danica as a coach, girls everywhere can stop hiding from their homework and watch their scores rise!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452298743
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/02/2013
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	185,806
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Danica McKellar is a New York Times bestselling author of groundbreaking math books, including Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math, Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape, Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss, Hot X: Algebra Exposed!, and the Goodnight, Numbers series of children's books, and is a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA with a degree in mathematics. She is also well known for her acting roles on The Wonder Years, The West Wing, and multiple Hallmark Channel movies, and as a quarterfinalist on Dancing with the Stars. She lives with her family in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi

Girls Get … What? xi

FAQs: How to Use This Book xiii

Part 1 Geometry Basics

Chapter 1 Hot Guys and Smelly Socks: Introduction to Logic and Reasoning 1

Chapter 2 Snow Angels: Geometry Basics 18

Chapter 3 First Impressions: Working with Diagrams 35

Confessional: Assumptions Gone Wrong! 44

Quiz: What's Your Body Image? On the Cover! 46

Part 2 Introduction to Proofs

Chapter 4 Why, Mommy? Why?: Introduction to Two-Column Proofs 50

Chapter 5 Lounge Chairs and Leftover Pizza: The Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, & Division Properties … and More Proofs! 70

Part 3 Triangles, Congruence, and More Proofs

Chapter 6 Ski Lessons: Introduction to Triangles 88

Chapter 7 Romantic Walks on the Beach: Congruence Transformations 109

Chapter 8 Cheerleading Tryouts: Congruent Triangles 119

Chapter 9 The Many Uses of Lipstick: CPCTC and More Proofs 143

Chapter 10 Your Sister's Crush: Proofs by Contradiction (AKA Indirect Proofs) 165

Chapter 11 Little Miss Know-It-All: Right Triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem 176

Confessional: How Do You Attract Guys? On the Cover? 198

Part 4 Parallel Lines and Polygons

Chapter 12 School Dance Nightmare: Intro to Polygons … and Deriving Formulas 200

Chapter 13 Getting Around the Mall: Parallel Lines and Transversals 214

Chapter 14 Musical Theater Emergency: Proving Lines Are Parallel 227

Chapter 15 Designer Shoes and Handbags: Introduction to Quadrilaterals 241

Chapter 16 Reality Show Drama: Properties of Parallelograms and Other Quadrilaterals 257

Feel Great with These 8 Self-Esteem Boosters! On the Cover! 281

Part 5 Similarity, Circles, Area, and Volume

Chapter 17 Life-Sized Barbie: Similar Triangles 284

Chapter 18 The Birds and the Bees … and Puppy Dogs, Too: Circles 303

Chapter 19 The Warrior Princess: Arcs and Arc Length 324

Chapter 20 Suddenly in the Mood for … Pie: Finding Perimeter and Area 342

Chapter 21 It's A Wrap!: Surface Area and Volume 363

A Final Word 383

Proofs: The Trouble shooting Guide! 385

Appendix 387

List of Rules (Theorems and Postulates) 390

Answer Key 395

Symbol Glossary 403

Index 405

About the Author 415

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Danica McKellar is a great teacher! She's warm and funny, and best of all, she explains algebra so clearly. My wife and I immediately ordered her books [for] our daughters.”—Steven Strogatz, New York Times columnist and professor of mathematics, Cornell University

Editorial Reviews

Danica McKellar is a great teacher! She's warm and funny, and best of all, she explains algebra so clearly. My wife and I immediately ordered her books [for] our daughters.”—Steven Strogatz, New York Times columnist and professor of mathematics, Cornell University

“In my 20+ years as a math teacher, rarely have I seen a book that makes mathematics so clear and fun! I highly recommend Danica McKellar's new book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed for perplexed students and puzzled algebra teachers looking for a way to engage today's students with fresh, entertaining lesson plans.”—Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association

“McKellar... may well have done more to encourage girls to stick with math than any government task force... the wildly enthusiastic response [her books] have received speaks to the effect that can be achieved by reworking the contents of standard math and science problems and countering the perception that boys won't like girls who are smart.”—Eileen Pollack, The New York Times

From the Publisher