South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
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Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Area: It’s What’s on the INSIDE That Counts! (Grade 2)

Master Teacher

Mary Beth Hiers

Time Allotment

One hour and 15 minutes

Overview

It’s what’s on the INSIDE that counts! Students often confuse area and perimeter. This lesson focuses solely on area—the number of square units needed to cover a surface. Students will participate in a series of hands-on, online and multimedia activities that examine the concept of area. After a brief introduction of area, students will view clips from the animated series Math Monsters and discuss the purpose of area and how it is used in the real world. Following the video portion of the lesson, students will visit a variety of Web sites to assess their knowledge of area.

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Formulate a definition of area.
Explain how area is used in real life.
Explore area using hands-on activities.
Examine the concept area through Web-based interactive activities.

South Carolina Standards

(These Standards are from the SC Mathematics Standards, Grade 2, found online at http://www.myscschools.com.)

N.II.C.1—Describe models of equal groupings as repeated addition and arrays.
M.II.D.1—Make, use, and evaluate the reasonableness of estimates of measure.
A.I.B.2—Skip count by any numeral using mental math, paper and pencil, hundred charts, calculators, and concrete objects.
M.I.A.1—Discriminate among the functions of length, capacity, weight, perimeter, area, time, and temperature.
M.I.D.1—Determine the appropriate unit and instrument needed for specific measurement in length, volume, weight, area, and temperature.

Media Components

Video

Math Monsters: “Area.”

In this episode the monsters learn how to calculate the area of a square.

To access this video, log on to your account at ETV’s StreamlineSC Web page (http://etv.streamlinesc.org). In the search by keyword box, type Math Monsters: Area and hit go. Click the series title and then download the following three segments to your computer desktop and preview them.

“Calculating the Area of a Square” runs four minutes and 32 seconds; “Numbered Tiles in a 10 x 10 Square” runs two minutes and 13 seconds; “Real World Example: Tiling a Kitchen Floor” runs two minutes and 47 seconds.

(Note to Teacher: If you don’t have an account with ETV’s StreamlineSC, check with your media specialist or Instructional Technologist about signing up for your own account.)

Web Sites

Cyberchase:Airlines Builder

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/perimeterarea/perimeterarea.html

In this activity students will be working to build a new fleet of ships. They will do this by rotating pieces onto the factory floor.

Cyberchase:Tangram Game

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/area/tangram.html

In this activity students will be working to create shapes using tangrams.

Shape Surveyor

http://www.funbrain.com/poly/index.html

When you reach this Web page, click on the level of difficulty you would like and then click on “area.” Next hit “Start Digging.” This will take you to the game which allows students to practice finding area.

Materials

Template of three rectangles (See Activity Sheet 1)
Color tiles (one bag of 15 for each child)
Base ten units (ones squares) (one bag of 70 for each child)
A roll of “Smarties” per student
Equipment
Computers
LCD projector
Screen

Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. In addition load each computer with the Shockwave plug-in, available at http://www.macromedia.com, and Windows Media Player, available at the Microsoft.com Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0175119-9a5b-44c3-b1de-9b2a9aa6cff6&DisplayLang=en).

Make a copy of Activity Sheet 1 for each student.
Put together the bags of tiles and base ten units each student will need.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Distribute the template of three rectangles (Activity Sheet 1) to all of your students. Pass out color tiles, base ten units, and “Smarties.” Instruct the students not to open the “Smarties” until you tell them to do so. Also tell them not to play with their bags of color tiles and units.

Step 2: Have your students look at the first rectangle on the template. Tell the students to pick up their bag of color tiles. Ask your students to guess (estimate) how many color tiles would fit in the center of the rectangle. Have the students record their answers on the estimate line beneath the first rectangle. Next have the students fill in the rectangle with the color tiles. Have your students count how many color tiles filled the rectangle. (12) Instruct students to record their answers on the line beneath the first rectangle that says “answer.”

Step 3: Have your students look at the second rectangle on the template. Tell the students to pick up their bags of base ten units. Ask your students to guess (estimate) how many base ten units would fit in the second rectangle. Have the students record their answers on the estimate line beneath the second rectangle. Next have the students fill in the rectangle with the base ten units. Have your students count how many base ten units filled the rectangle. (60) Tell students to record their answers on the line beneath the second rectangle that says “answer.”

Step 4: Have your students look at the third rectangle on the template. Tell the students to pick up their roll of “Smarties.” Ask your students to guess (estimate) how many “Smarties” would fit in the third rectangle. Have the students record their answers on the estimate line beneath the third rectangle. Next have the students fill in the rectangle with “Smarties.” Have your students count how many “Smarties” filled the rectangle. (Thenumber will vary.) Instruct students to record their answers on the line that says “answer.”

Step 5: After completing this activity reflect with the students by asking them questions like—What did we do in this activity? What was it about? What did you notice? Does anyone know what this is called? After reflecting, tell your students that they will be studying area. Brainstorm with them and come up with a definition of area. (The number of square units needed to cover a surface.)

Learning Activities

Step 1: Explain to your students that they will be learning more about area from a video series called Math Monsters. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to decide what is wrong with the blueprints. Start the “Calculating the Area of a Square” clip from your desktop. PLAY the clip up to the first question mark (?). PAUSE the clip. Ask students what is wrong with the blueprints? (The squares are all different sizes and they do not touch each other.)

Step 2: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students to figure out what Split has formed on her paper. PLAY the clip up to where Split says “ten in each row.” PAUSE the clip. Ask students what Split has formed on her paper. (an array)

Step 3: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students to find out why Mina numbers the squares. PLAY the clip up to where Multiplex says: “I’ll call, I’ll call.” PAUSE the clip. Ask students why Mina numbered the squares. (She wanted to be sure that she had exactly 100 squares.)

Step 4: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them what the area was for one tile. PLAY the clip until the end. Ask students what the area is of one tile. (100 square units)

Step 5: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students how they know the 20 should go under the 10? Start the “Numbered Tiles in a 10 x 10 Square” clip from your desktop. PLAY the clip up to the first question mark (?). PAUSE the clip. Ask students how they know the 20 should go under the 10? (Because the rows are in groups of 10 and 20 comes after 10 counting by tens.)

Step 6: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them where the 23 should go. PLAY the clip up to the second question mark (?). PAUSE the clip. Ask students where should the 23 go? (23 should go under the 13 because 23 is ten more than 13.)

Step 7: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students where the 33 should go. PLAY the clip to the end. Ask students where the 33 goes. (33 should go right under 23.) Say 13, 23, 33, 43, 53…what am I counting by? (ten) Ask students what the area of a 10 x 10 square would be. (100 square units)

Step 8: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students how to find the area. Start the “Real World Example: Tiling a Kitchen Floor” clip from your desktop. PLAY the clip up until the lady says “so they only need one tile.” PAUSE the clip. Ask students how do you find the area. (Multiply length x width.)

Step 9: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students how many tiles are needed for the cats’ kitchen. PLAY the clip to the end. Ask students how many tiles were needed for the cats’ kitchen. (4). Ask students about how many tiles would you need for an elephant’s kitchen. (Have fun with this but ask why and how they came up with their answers.)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that they will now have the opportunity to work with patterns using a variety of interactive Web sites. Have your students log on to the Cyberchase: Airlines Builder Web site http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/perimeterarea/perimeterarea.html. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to build new ships and find the area of the ships that they build. Have them click on Instructions first and then proceed to Play Game.

Step 2: Have your students log on to the Cyberchase:Tangram Game Web site http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/area/tangram.html. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students to create new shapes using tangrams.

Step 3: Have your students log on to the Shape Surveyor Web site http://www.funbrain.com/poly/index.html. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction,asking your students find the area of different squares.

(Note to Teacher: Some students may be able to multiply, others may not. You may want to show them other ways of figuring out the area besides multiplying [i.e., Repeated addition].)

Step 4: Reflect with your students on the lesson. Ask them about what they learned studying area. As an assessment, have students write about how they would use area to find the length and width of their classroom.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Social Studies: Use measurement to find the areas of the states of Wyoming and Colorado. These states are almost rectangles, so start the activity by drawing rectangular shapes (states) on graph paper. Extension: Use a map to find their length and width in miles. Then organize and record their data in a table. This would be an excellent whole group activity.

Science: In science class, allow the students to design a tulip garden with an area of 14 square units. They should draw different rectangles on graph paper, finding the area in square feet. Extension: You can organize and record their data in a table.

Language: On graph paper, draw your tulip garden with an area of 14 square units. On a separate sheet of paper, write about the garden. Tell what color tulips you would use, how many on each row, how many in all, where this garden would be, and how you would take care of it.

Community Connections

Invite a landscaper into your classroom to share how important area is when designing one’s yard.
Invite a contractor into your classroom to show students how he/she uses area daily in his/her job. Have the contractor bring in blueprints to show and share with students.
If you have a fairly new school building, invite the architect to school. Have him/her share his/her experience in designing the school and how area played a big role.

Student Materials

Area Lesson Activity Sheet 1