"Understanding vocabulary is KEY to success on standardized tests," says Mrs. S-S. "It is one of the main reasons students often fail or score poorly!"

Math terms are actually not difficult to learn and since they don't change year-after-year, it is definitely best to get them under your belt. Let's take a look at the basic geometry terms. They're the same ones from elementary school.

point - a point names a location in space and has no size, it is represented by a dot

segment - a segment or line segment is part of a line and is designated by two endpoints and is composed of all the points between them

ray - a ray is part of a line; it begins at an endpoint and extends indefinitely in the other direction

line - a straight, one-dimensional figure that has no thickness and goes on indefinitely in both directions

endpoint - a point at one end of a ray or at the beginning and ending of a segment

angle - a figure where two rays share a common endpoint (vertex)

plane - a flat, 2-dimensional surface, has no thickness, and goes on forever and ever in all directions…

a plane can be defined by three points

polygons - 2-dimensional flat shapes made from straight line segments that don't cross over one another

circle - a set of points in a plane equidistant from a given point

area - the number of unit squares that can be fit into the space outlined by a closed curve

The name of a polygon depends upon the number of sides it has:

triangle: 3 sides

sum of interior angles: 180º

octagon: 8 sides

sum of interior angles: 1080º

quadrilateral: 4 sides

sum of interior angles: 360º

nonagon: 9 sides

sum of interior angles: 1260º

decagon: 10 sides

sum of interior angles: 1440º

pentagon: 5 sides

sum of interior angles: 540º

hexagon: 6 sides

sum of interior angles: 720º

dodecagon: 12 sides

sum of interior angles: 1800º

heptagon: 7 sides

sum of interior angles: 900º

n-gon: n sides

sum of interior angles: