While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...

Third graders are exposed to finding the area of polygons by decomposing figures and recomposing them into rectangles. This strategy allows children to expand on their prior knowledge of constructing shapes by rearranging parts into...

An exercise in finding the area of polygons by decomposing into triangles and composing into rectangles is the focus of this resource. Make several copies of the worksheet for each participant. Ask learners to use colored pencils to...

We are used to finding the area of a circle by plugging the radius into an equation. Here, learners are required to go further to find multiple areas and calculate the difference. They must detect a pattern in order to figure out the...

Shapes are everywhere in the world around us, from rectangular doors to the circular wheels of a car. The second lesson in this series opens the eyes of young mathematicians to this wonderful world of shapes as they search the classroom,...

Young geometers and biologists investigate the math of nature in an activity that is just the bee's knees. Participants will study the tessellations of hexagons in a beehive, along with the natural rationale behind the specific shape....

The problem seems simple: find the area of the equilateral triangle whose sides are each length 1. In fact, this same problem is solved in 8th grade, addressing a different Common Core standard, using the formula for area of a triangle...

Learners follow a series of instructions for drawing and coloring different shapes in order to learn the difference between the perimeter and area of a polygon. Then they are asked to find the perimeter and area of a 3x4 rectangular...

An excellent instructional activity that encourages students to discover how complex figures can be broken into simpler shapes when measuring area. Working with block letters, learners are given the freedom to develop their own...

A complex question looking for the total cost of a stained glass window by calculating area and circumference of a circle. With detailed components, this activity will challenge your designers to figure out if they have enough money to...

Geometric shapes make great visual models for introducing young mathematicians to the concept of fractions. Looking at a series of four circles, students are asked to determine whether or not one half of each circle is shaded. To support...

The hunt is on! Send young mathematicians on a search for shapes in the first lesson of this two-part series. Each time a child finds a hidden shape, he draws it on his paper, and continues searching for the rest. Perform this activity...

Package design is an economic necessity. Young scholars assume the role in an interesting inquiry-based lesson. Given 24 cubic shaped candies to package, they must determine the arrangement that uses the least amount of cardboard to...

Change up the classroom atmosphere with this interdisciplinary resource. Following along with the children's book Mr. Slaptail's Curious Contraption, these math worksheets provide practice with a wide range of topics including...

Now you'll never have trouble cutting a cake evenly again. Here is a set of five problems all about partitioning shapes into a given number of pieces and identifying the fractional amount of each piece. As learners progress through the...

You don't need a scale to determine weight. This activity provides a way to use the concepts of air pressure and surface area to determine the weight of a vehicle by calculating the amount of weight each tire supports.

The humble soda can gets the geometric treatment in an activity that links math and science calculations. After a few basic assumptions are made and discussed, surface area calculations combine with density information to develop an...

With minimal setup and maximum freedom, young geometers are encouraged to think outside the box on a seemingly simple application problem. Though the task seems simple, measuring a given paper clip and finding how many 10 meters can...

Add a sense of excitement to your math class with this race across the country. Using their knowledge of all things circular, young mathematicians work in pairs answering a series of pi-related word problems as they hop from one city to...

Find out if your class agrees with Ice Age: Continental Drift ... or if it's just a fun family movie! Class members research the theory of continental drift, examine evidence of plate tectonics, connect...

Here you will find a model of a linear relationship between two quantities, the water depth of a channel and the distance across the channel at water level. The cross section of the channel is the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. The...

Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...

Geometers construct a mobile or ornament using nets of three-dimensional polyhedrons. Not only do they need to compute the volume and surface area of each figure, they also earn points for creativity, neatness, and more!

Is your class ready to size up the topic of diffusion? Help them get cell shape savvy with a well-written handout. The resource covers how substances such as oxygen passively move through the cell membrane and how cell size and shape...