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South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Arguing over Area. (Grades 2-3)

Master Teacher

Becky Zeigler

Time Allotment

One Class Period (1 hour and 30 minutes)

Overview

Arguing over area? Sounds like the children in Stuart Murphy's book, Bigger, Better, Best! , arguing over the size of things. Call the Area Officers and Perimeter Patrol! In this lesson, students will participate in a series of hands-on, online, and multimedia activities to examine area and its relationship to perimeter.

After listening to the story, students will use paper and tape to cover, or tile, objects around the room to determine area and see its relationship to perimeter.

Students will view a clip from Cyberchase where they will learn how area relates to real-life events.

Following the video portion of the lesson, students will visit a web site to test their area and perimeter skills as they build cyberspace ships. Students will also determine relationships between area and perimeter. After playing the computer game, students will design and cut out spaceships, using graph paper, and recording the area and perimeter of each.

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Develop the concept of area and use of square units.
• Measure area by using square units.
• Find area and perimeter by counting squares.
• Construct shapes from given areas.
• Relate area and perimeter.

South Carolina Curriculum Standards

(These Standards can be found online at www.myscschools.com )

Second Grade:

Measurement

I. A. 1. Discriminate among the functions of length, capacity, weight (mass), perimeter, area, time, and temperature.

Geometry

IV. C. 2. Using square tiles, grid paper, and unifix cubes, connect geometry to related concepts in measurement and number

Third Grade:

Measurement

I. A. 1. Use a variety of objects to measure length (e.g., width, height, perimeter), volume, weight/mass, and area (e.g., cubes, grid, paper, string, squares).

I.A. 3. Develop strategies and determine perimeters of polygons.

Geometry

II.C. 1. Combine two-dimensional shapes to form new shapes and draw conclusions about area and fractional relationships.

Media Components

Video

To access this video segment, log on to Cyberchase at http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/forreal/105_for_real.html

This episode focuses on finding area by determining how many sleeping bags can fit in a living room for a slumber party.

Web Sites

Cyberchase site at http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/perimeterarea/perimeterarea.html

This interactive site challenges students to build spaceships with different areas and perimeters.

Materials

• Read aloud book - Bigger, Better, Best! by Stuart J. Murphy and illustrated by Marsha Winborn (HarperCollins Publishers)
• 12 x 12 square sheets of paper (100 per group)
• Tape (two rolls per group)
• Chart paper and marker
• Pencils
• Graph paper
• Activity Sheet 1: Area Recording Sheet
• Construction paper
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Area Badges

Equipment

• Computer with Internet access
• TV
• LCD projector

Prep for Teachers

• Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark the Web site used in the lesson on each computer. Also, load in any necessary plug-ins like Shockwave, available at ( www.macromedia.com , or Windows Media Player, available at the Microsoft.com West site ( http://www.microsoft.co/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0175119-9a5b-44c3-b1de-9b2a9aa6cff6&DisplayLang=en ).
• Cut pieces of paper into 12x12 squares.
• Place students in small groups of 2-4.
• Gather chart paper and marker.
• Copy Area recording sheet (one per child)
• Copy graph paper (two/three sheets per child)
• Copy and cut out "Area Badges".
• Gather scissors and glue sticks (one per child)
• Gather construction paper (one piece per child)
• 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: Ask the students to raise their hands if they have ever argued with a sibling or friend over the size of an object. ( Pause as children raise hands. ) Tell the students you are going to read a book about a brother and sister who argue over who has the biggest and best things. Begin reading the book. After reading page 9, instruct students to make a prediction about the rooms in the new house. After reading page 13, ask children which window is bigger? (A ccept responses: Jenny and/or Jeff, they are the same size. ) Pause to see if children mention the arrays on pages 15 and 17. If not, point out the 4 x 3 and the 6 x 2 arrays. Tell the students that the children in the story are finding the area of the windows. Before reading page 18, have students predict who has the bigger room - Jenny or Jeff or the same size. ( Pause as children raise their hands. ) After reading page 25, ask students to raise their hands if their prediction was correct. ( Pause as children raise their hands.) Ask students what does finding the area of something tell us? ( Accept.how big something is, how much space something has, how many pieces of paper cover an object, etc.)

Tell the children that in their small group they will determine and compare the areas of objects in the classroom.

Step 2: Give each group the square paper, tape and recording sheet. As you are doing this, tell the students that they are going to become "Area Officers" and will be patrolling for area and perimeter by finding objects around the room that they want to know the area of. Tell students to make and record a prediction for the number of squares they think it will take to cover the object. Tape, count, and record the number of square units. Review group work rules -tell students that you will be patrolling and looking for groups who are following directions. Give groups an "Area Badge" to wear as you see them following directions. Allow students 20-30 minutes to complete task.

Step 3 : Have students return to their seats and direct their attention to the chart paper. Allow students to share what they learned about their group investigation (area patrol.) Record student responses on the chart paper.

Learning Activity

Step 1: Explain to the students that they will examine the concept of area in a real world experience as they watch a video clip from Cyberchase . Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to make a prediction about how many children will be invited to the slumber party. PLAY the video. PAUSE the clip after the girl removes all the furniture from her living room and begins to problem solve, to check for student comprehension. ( The little girl is measuring using a nonstandard unit. ) PAUSE clip again after the girl tapes the floor. Ask the children to think about their earlier predictions and change prediction if needed. Allow students to share predictions. Press PLAY and watch the remaining part of the clip.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that they will now have the opportunity to challenge their brains as they create different cyberspace ships. Have your students to go to Cyberchase http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/perimeterarea/perimeterarea.html to play the game.

Step 2: Tell your students when they finish the computer game to get two/three pieces of graph paper, one piece of construction paper, a glue stick, and a pair of scissors. Tell them to design, cut out, and glue some paper spaceships to the construction paper. Record the area and perimeter below each spaceship.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts: Create a book by making and designing different areas/perimeters. Write a number story to represent each picture. Write acrostic poems for the words AREA and PERIMETER using adjectives that describe each word.

Health: Determine the perimeter of the gymnasium or a hallway. Calculate how many times it would take to walk a mile around the area. Create graphs and have your class walk the distance each day to see how far they can walk. Discuss the health benefits of exercise.

Art: Create "Area" collages or coloring books by designing pictures using blocks and index cards.

Community Connections

• Invite an architect or the architect that designed the school to your classroom to talk about how he/she uses area and perimeter in drawing architectural plans.

Student Materials

• Area Recording Sheet (PDF)