Lesson Plan: Equations of Parallel and Perpendicular Lines Mathematics • 11th Grade

This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to write the equation of a line parallel or perpendicular to another line.

Objectives

Students will be able to

  • identify whether two given lines are parallel, perpendicular, or neither,
  • find the equation of a line that is parallel to a given line,
  • find the values of the unknown coefficients in the equations of two parallel straight lines,
  • use the relationship between the gradient of perpendicular lines in order to find the slope of a line given a line perpendicular to it,
  • find the equation of a line that is perpendicular to a given line,
  • find the values of the unknown coefficients in the equations of two perpendicular straight lines.

Prerequisites

Students should already be familiar with

  • the definitions of the terms parallel and perpendicular,
  • the slopes of parallel and perpendicular lines,
  • writing the equation of a line given the slope and the 𝑦-intercept,
  • writing the equation of a line given the slope and a point on the line,
  • writing the equation of a line given two points on the line.

Exclusions

Students will not cover

  • vector equations of straight lines,
  • parametric equations of straight lines.

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