Lesson 1 - Area
Lesson 1 - Area
Lesson 1 - Area
1. State Standard(s):
3.MD.5 Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area
measurement.
a. A square with side length 1 unit, called a unit square, is said to have one square
unit of area, and can be used to measure area.
b. A plane figure which can be covered without gaps or overlaps by n unit squares is said
to have an area of n square units.
3.MD.6 Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m, square in, square
ft, and improvised units)
3.MD.7 Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition. a. Find the area of a
rectangle with whole-number side lengths by tiling it, and show that the area is the same
as would be found by multiplying the side lengths. b. Multiply side lengths to find areas
of rectangles with whole-number side lengths in the context of solving real world and
mathematical problems, and represent whole-number products as rectangular areas in
mathematical reasoning.
3. Objective(s):
Students will develop an understanding of the concept of area
Students will use different strategies to determine the area
Students will use concrete and pictorial models of square units to determine the area of
two-dimensional surfaces
4. Materials and Technology Resources: enVisions math book, white boards, Starburst, grid
paper, white board markers, pencils
5. Instructional Procedures:
a. Motivation/Engagement: (5-10 min.)
You have found the perimeter of common shapes this week. Today, you will learn to
measure the region inside a figure. Review perimeter with class. Cold Call Define the
word perimeter. DOK 1. Which covers a bigger surface on a desk, a cell phone or a
textbook? How do you know? (Possible answer: a textbook because it is larger than a
cellphone) DOK 2. Use Cold Call to call on students. Draw cell phone and textbook on
board and explain square unit. A square unit is a square with sides that are each 1 unit
long. Area is the number of square units needed to cover the inside of a figure. One
example of a square unit is a square inch. Draw square units on drawing of cell phone
and textbook on board. How many square units are in the cell phone? How many square
units are in the textbook? How did you find out? (Answer: I counted them) DOK 1&2.
How are perimeter and area different? DOK 2.
c. Closure: (5 min.)
Explain why knowing how to determine the area of an object can help us solve real world
problems. Give examples. (Possible answer: It allows us to measure the area of an object. We
can determine how much wallpaper we need by finding out the area of the wall) DOK 3.
The amount of space inside a shape is its area, and area can be found using square units.
Area can be found by counting square units or sometimes by multiplying. In this lesson, you
learned how to find the area of a rectangle or a square by counting square units and
multiplying.
d. Extension:
If students finish early, challenge them to draw on grid paper all possible rectangles
with side lengths that are whole numbers of units and with area 18 square units (Possible
dimensions are 1x18, 2x9, and 3x6).
6. Accommodations, Modifications and Differentiations for Diverse Learners:
Have certain students work in groups. Groups will vary based on which students understand the
content. Teacher will pull students based on informal assessments during the lesson.
9. Reflection:
a. Strengths: Any type of hands-on activity is a great way to engage students, especially
when it involves candy! I think using the Starburst is a concrete way to introduce the
concept of area and square units. This can be especially helpful to ELLs.
b. Concerns: It was tough to get a variety of shapes from the students because they only
got so many Starburst. Many of the squares and rectangles looked the same because of
the limited number.
c. Insights: I would definitely either get more Starburst, or simply give each child a
different number so that their area rectangles/squares had to be different. Using Starburst
could be something that could be reintroduced when the students get to learning more
difficult area problems.