i use a swimming pool analogy to teach area...they really get the length and width...as the swimmer has to swim across the pool. i draw it on the board.
Great lesson on permiter and area! I teach 4th grade as well. Do you have other math lessons written up in detail like this one? I would love to see them!
I love teaching this and especially to older grades. I'm not sure what grade you teach, but when I taught 5th I used this so I would think you could use it in 4th and up to 8th.
I gave a layout of a house plan I drew up. Just a plan with rooms. They had to find the area and perimeter of each room to decorate. Then I got old wallpaper books and carpet/floor samples. They used these to choose the materials they would like to use and then "ordered" correct amounts based on their A & P measurements. Allowed for real application of skill and brought in some real creativity. If local businesses won't donate sample books and products they can always get sample pictures online from a variety of home improvement stores.
(this was done with a partner)
kristen_teach
10-07-2007 02:43 PM
We do a "lab" with inch tile squares. They start with 1 tile and find the perimeter (4 in.) and area (1 square inch). Then, they have 2 tiles in a 1X2 rectangle and find the perimeter and area. Then, they have 3 tiles in a 1X3 rectange and find the perimeter and area. They look for a pattern. Then, they make a hypothesis about what would happen if they did it with 2 inch wide rectangles, test it, and record the results. We graph this and so it also goes along with our graphing standards.
We also give them a certain perimeter 20 inches and they use inch tiles to find the different rectangles that can be made with this perimeter and find the area of each.
When I taught 6th, I did a design your bedroom unit on graph paper. One of the parts was to figure out how much carpet/tile they needed (area) and one part was to figure out how much border you would need (perimeter).
I have also given the home assignment of measuring the perimeter of actual room, drawing it out on graph paper. They then had to find the area of their room. We used this assignment to practice converting from inches to feet to yards. We also talked about the relationship between the perimeter and area in inches versus the perimeter and area in feet. I would not do this assignment with students younger than 6th though.
Hope this helps!
Cherrie28
10-07-2007 02:18 PM
Any good perimeter and area lessons out there? I am looking to bring my students to do some higher level thinking when it comes to perimeter and area. I am hoping to do some sort of authentic problem they can solve that helps them understand these two areas and how they can influence each other. I would love to know what great ideas you use in your classrooms. Thanks!
Great lesson on permiter and area! I teach 4th grade as well. Do you have other math lessons written up in detail like this one? I would love to see them!
