The Pythagorean
Theorem
A Picture Perfect World
BY
Michele M. Weaver
A Picture of the Past
• Pythagoras lived 500
years B.C.
• He was the first teacher
in the ancient world to
invite women to study in
his Academy and to
consider them to be
equal to men in
opportunity.
• In fact, both his wife and
daughter were among
his students.
A Picture of the Past
• Pythagoreas believed that numbers contained mystical
meanings.
• He had many followers who were named the
Pythagoreans.
• They made important contributions to medicine and
astronomy and were among the first to teach that the
earth was a spherical planet, revolving about a fixed
point.
• At the end of the 5th cent. B.C. the Pythagoreans were
forced to flee Magna Graecia when people grew
enraged at their interference with traditional religious
customs; many were killed.
The Pythagorean Theorem
• Pythagoreas’ most
famous theorem is
named for him.
• He found that you
can discover the
length of the third
side of any right
triangle if given the
length of the other
two sides.
Please enjoy the following
presentation on the
Pythagorean Theorem
• Pay close attention to the kind of triangles
being used.
• Notice which sides are given the labels a,
b, and c. Does it make a difference
where you put the labels?
• What are the sides of a right triangle
called?
Enjoy the show…….
Pythagoreas’ Theorem in
Nature
Do you see
the right triangles?
How many are there?
Can you picture it?
• Now it is your turn to go out into the
“world” and find your own natural
occurrence of the Pythagorean Theorem.
• Take a picture of it and show us how the
theorem really works.
• Be creative and think outside the
“triangle”….
GOOD LUCK!!