You may find it useful to print off some dotty paper or use the dotty grids environment to explore the first part of this problem.
In the two trapeziums below, we have drawn triangles by joining the vertices of one of the non-parallel sides to the midpoint of the opposite side.
Is there a relationship between the area of each trapezium and the area of the shaded triangle contained within it?
Draw some more trapeziums and construct triangles inside them in the same way. Does the same relationship hold?
Can you find a way to prove that your relationship will always hold for any trapezium?
Once you have had a go at proving it, click below to see some possible starting points.
Can you take each starting point and develop it into a full proof?
Starting Point 1
Starting Point 2
Take a look at this sequence of three images. What happens at each stage?
How could you use this sequence of three images to create a proof that the area of the triangle is half the area of the trapezium?
Starting Point 3