Triangle Inequality: Introducing a learning target in context

In starting a new unit today I wanted to give context to students for writing inequalities. In our algebra class students have not yet learned the triangle inequality theorem which states that:

The sum of any two sides in a triangle must be greater than the third side.

Seems like a great opportunity for some 'ruler math'. I kept the rulers on my desk until after the bell because spring break starts after today and I know how middle schoolers can we with unstructured time and these tools...

In anticipating the pacing to be different for each student I made  the activity as a Google presentation and provided students the link, instructing them to do their work on paper and answer completely any questions asked of them in the activity--noting that I would be breaking in periodically to the whole class and facilitating some discussion.

My favorite part was #4 of the first drawing where many of them grew frustrated with not being able to construct a 1 cm, 2 cm, 5 cm triangle--thinking it was something they were doing wrong. Kind of a fun way to watch them squirm and I know I'm not the first math teacher to have ever done this.

I had some awesome conversations with students while they were working. One student changed what he said mid-sentence. He went from saying

"The two lengths need to be at least the length of the third...The two lengths need to be more than the third length..." 

I asked him why he changed his wording and he explained the difference between the two correctly. Pretty cool--I made sure to highlight that to the class in our whole group time. This kind of mathematics is so much more fun to teach than the traditional "do this, copy me, don't think" style. I overheard the same student above before leaving say to his neighbor

"Math is my hardest class because you can't just memorize stuff and copy it down. You actually have to understand the concepts to do well." 

I told him I will take that as a compliment.

I am not expecting all students to go here but I am hoping that some make some connections to they pythagorean theorem and how it relates to acute and obtuse triangles in the last slide.

I've already made some revisions to the activity since teaching it one period and I wouldn't be surprised if it changed a little more as the day goes on. As always I'm open to other ideas or revisions to make it a better experience for my students.