Lines, Line Segments, Rays, and Infinity!

Objective

In this video, students learn about the difference between lines, line segments, and rays. We differentiate by highlighting these interesting aspects of infinity and lines:

• A ray and a line are both infinitely long, so they're both equally long, even though rays have an endpoint!
• Line segments, lines, and rays all have the same number of points (infinity), even though line segments have a clear end and lines are infinitely long

Steps

1. I introduce students to lines, line segments, and rays. Finally, I pose the delicious question: "Which is the longest?"
2. Now we ponder: "Which has more points on it?"
3. Finally, students explore an idea such as: "What would a ray think about a line?" or "If a line wrote a poem to a line segment, what would it be like?" They can then create a mini-story, a comic, a play, or whatever you see fit!