Portfolio #1

Angel Noriega

MAT 207-02

27 February 2017
 For the first midterm I felt pretty confident on the problems that it contained. From the

very start of the semester I knew that math was going to be a difficult subject for me so I had

study twice as hard for each topic. I am so glad that every topic that we had on the problem sets,

we discussed thoroughly in class and that helped me a lot. The more we discussed and the more

we tried the problems I felt that I was understanding each topic. I was very satisfied with my

grade that I received for my midterm. Although I got an 89% I am confident enough that if I

were to retake the midterm today, I would receive a higher grade.

The problems that were easiest for me were the problems on the skew lines, the altitudes,

collinear points, pair of angles and proving the sum of 3 angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. The

more difficult problems had to be explaining and making a Venn diagram of the relationships of

triangles. I will need to study more on this topic because I still get confused on justifying the

properties of each tringle. I need to study the relationships of the triangles and knowing the

reasons why one triangle can never be another certain type of triangle.

What I will do to better prepare myself for the final exam is to study more on the

problems that I am having more difficult with. I will rework the problems until I get a better

understanding on why that is the answer and making flashcards on the properties of each

triangle.

Section 1: Summary of Topics

The first topic that we learned was how each quadrilateral are related. We had to figure

out the similarities and the differences between a square, rhombi, and a rectangle. In order to

prove this, we had to make a Venn diagram to show the importance for each of these and how

they relate to one another. This is a great way for us to actually get a visual perspective to prove
if all rectangles are squares, all squares are rectangles or if all rhombi are squares, all square are

rhombi or if all rectangles are rhombi, all rhombi are rectangles.

The second topic we learned was parallel lines and parallelograms. It is important to learn

these topics because they all connect to one another. By knowing if the lines are parallel you will

be able to determine the pairs of angles and determine the relationship between parallelograms

and the special quadrilaterals. For example, by knowing if a specific quadrilateral is a

parallelogram then you will know that each pair of opposite sides are parallel. You will them

understand the connection between each quadrilateral.

The third topic we leaned about triangles and their properties and the altitudes of an

obtuse, acute, and right triangle. We had to determine whether or not all equilateral triangles are

isosceles or all isosceles equilateral triangles. This section helped me get a better understanding

on how all triangles connect to one another if the properties match. Such as an equilateral can

never be a right or obtuse because a right triangle can only have one angle that is 90 degrees and

if all 3 angles were 90, it would be more than 180 degrees so therefore it can not be an

equilateral. In order to find an altitude of a triangle, we draw a straight line through the vertex

and perpendicular to the base of the triangle, meaning it has to be right in the middle of a

triangle.

Lastly, the fourth topic we learned before the midterm was Skew Lines and Collinear.

Skew lines are two sets of lines that are nonparallel on different planes which means they will

never intersect one another. Collinear are points on the same line.

Section 2: Reflection of Grade

I was very content with the grade I received for the first midterm. Although I feel I could

have studied a more on learning the properties of each triangle and showing the relationships of
the triangles by making a Venn diagram. That topic was the most difficult for me because I still

get confused on on what makes up the properties of a triangle and why they have no relation to

one another. What I did to prepare myself for this midterm was I kept on studying and redid

problems that I knew I had a hard time with. I kept redoing the problems until I finally

understood why that was the answer. I have always had a difficult time with math but seeing the

grade that I received for my midterm gave me hopes that whenever I put my mind into

something and I continue to work and study for a subject that everything will turn out to be fine.

I did earn the grade that I received because I put a lot of time into studying for this exam.