Illustrative Mathematics
Finding Areas of Polygons, Variation 1
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shape Hunt Part 2
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,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shape Hunt Part 1
The hunt is on! Send young mathematicians on a search for shapes in the first instructional activity 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...
Shodor Education Foundation
Triangle Area
While the lesson plan 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...
Curated OER
Shapes and Their Insides
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...
Curated OER
Finding the Area of Polygons
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...
Curated OER
The Square Counting Shortcut
An excellent lesson plan 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 strategies for...
Illustrative Mathematics
Eight Circles
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Hexagonal Pattern of Beehives
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....
Illustrative Mathematics
How Thick Is a Soda Can I?
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Stained Glass
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...
Curated OER
Finding the Area of an Equilateral Triangle
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...
Teach Engineering
Stay in Shape
Using their knowledge of right triangles, pupils find out how far a ship is from a light house. Class members determine how far around the world a ship would be sailing at a constant speed.
Howard County Schools
Building a Playground
Scholars crave practical application. Let them use the different models of a quadratic function to plan the size and shape of a school playground. They convert between the different forms and maximize area.
Illustrative Mathematics
Ice Cream Cone
Every pupil with a sweet tooth will be clamoring for this lab and analysis, particularly when they're allowed to eat the results! Volume and surface area formulas for cones are developed from models, and then extended to the printing of...
Denton Independent School District
Build a Geome-Tree
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!
Illustrative Mathematics
Use Cavalieri’s Principle to Compare Aquarium Volumes
Learners are designing a stunning new water feature for an aquarium, but they soon discover that more than just a pretty home for their fishy friends is required. From calculating the volume of a composite shape through the abstract...
101 Questions
Apple Mothership
Explore Apple's spaceship office building. Built in the shape of a circle, the office building offers a unique floor plan challenge. Young scholars use the dimensions of the building to estimate the square footage for each employee.
101 Questions
Canadian Thanksgiving Tradition
It's all about the portion size! Given a photo of a pumpkin pie, learners work to determine the number of calories that are missing. Supplemental information provides the angle of the piece that is missing as well as the nutritional...
Teach Engineering
Magnetic Fluids
Teams work as material engineers to create ferrofluids, whose shape is influenced by magnetic fields. The activity, which is the fourth in the six-part series, has the teams create magnetic ink and use it to write, testing it with a...
Illustrative Mathematics
Paper Clip
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...
Curated OER
Math Challenges
Students engage their critical thinking skills to solve challenging math problems. In these problem solving lessons, student work with tessellations, weights/measurement, reasoning, surface area, geometric shapes, and algebraic procedures.
Exploratorium
Tired Weight
Take your class out to visit your automobile and use the tires to compute the weight of the vehicle. This is done by measuring the surface of the tire meeting the ground and the air pressure. This is a fun lesson in the relationship...
Curated OER
Glasses
Provide your class some practice with the dimensions of geometric figures. Here you have a set of three different-shaped, stemmed drinking glasses with diameters and heights provided. Math-minded individuals calculate the volume of each....