Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

Secret ALIVE!
Formulas:

ons
Less
Calculating the
Perimeter and Area of
Rectangles and Squares
Grades 3–5
Using AIT Products
■ Math Works, Program 1, “Measurement: Finding Areas of Rectangles”
■ Math Works, Program 9, “Measurement: The Difference Between Perimeter and Area”
■ Math Can Take You Places, Episode 1, “The Long and Tall of It (Measurement)”

Overview • Use appropriate units to describe the perime-

ter of rectangles and squares.
Imagine trying to build a fence around a yard or
trying to determine how much paint you need to • Use a formula to calculate the area of rectan-
paint a room without having a basic knowledge gles and squares.
of measurement and shapes. Being able to
measure shapes is crucial when completing • Use appropriate units to describe the area of a
many ordinary tasks. This lesson is designed to rectangle and square.
help students develop formulas and procedures
for determining the perimeter and area of rec- • Explain the difference between perimeter and
tangles and squares. Students will calculate the area.
perimeter and area of common objects found in
the classroom and at home and discover how • Describe instances when people need to cal-
people apply measurement skills in everyday sit- culate perimeter and area in everyday life.
uations.

Vocabulary
Objectives
area
Students will: perimeter
quadrilateral
• Use a formula to calculate the perimeter of square centimeter
rectangles and squares.

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Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

Preparation Procedure—Day 1

Materials Needed Introduce Topic

• AIT video: Math Works, Program 1, Read Harry Builds a House, by Derek Radford,
“Measurement: Finding Areas of Rectangles” aloud to students.

• AIT video: Math Works, Program 9, After the story, explain to students that when
“Measurement: The Difference Between people build and decorate houses, they must do
Perimeter and Area” a lot of measuring. Have students name some
things that Harry and his crew had to measure
• AIT video: Math Can Take You Places, Episode before they built the house.
1, “The Long and Tall of It (Measurement)”
Tell students that people often have to calculate
• Book: Harry Builds a House, by Derek Radford the perimeter or area of shapes when building
and decorating houses. Perimeter is the distance
• Rules and/or yardsticks around the outside of a two-dimensional shape.
Area is the number of square units it takes to
• Grid paper cover a surface.

Planning Notes Group Work

Arrange students in work groups to complete Tell students that you are going to measure the
this lesson. Groups of three to five are best. perimeter of the classroom. Give each group
rulers and/or yardsticks and assign each group
Time one wall to measure. Ask groups to record their
This project will take four 45-minute class peri- measurement on the board. Have students help
ods, in addition to homework and extension you add all the measurements.
activity time.
Ask students if there is an easier way to calculate
the perimeter of the room. Students should
know that you can also calculate the area by
measuring one length of the room and one
width of the room, adding these measurements
together, and multiplying by two.

All things which can be Have each group calculate the perimeter of two
objects in the classroom, sketch the shapes of
the objects, and record the perimeter of the
known have number; for it objects without identifying the objects.

is impossible for a thing to Tell groups to exchange their papers with the
measurements. Have students figure out what
be conceived or known the objects are by measuring.

without number.
—Philolaus (Pythagorean)

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 Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

Homework • How did Wanda figure out the area of Mother

Have students calculate the perimeter of three Witch’s plot of land?
objects at home. Students should write down the
measurements of the objects, as well as the • Why was Wanda able to find the answer
perimeter. before Grizelda did?

Have students explain how to calculate the area

Procedure—Day 2 of the rectangle on the square-centimeter grid
paper.
Introduce New Topic
Tell students that you would like to cover a bul- Group Work
letin board with colored paper. Ask them how Have each group calculate the area of two differ-
you can figure out how much paper you need. ent objects in the classroom. Then ask each
group to explain to the class how they calculated
Explain that in order to determine how much the area of the objects.
paper you need, you have to calculate the area of
the bulletin board. Remind students that area is Homework
the number of square units it takes to cover a Have students calculate the area of three objects
surface. at home. Students should write down the meas-
urements of the objects, as well as the area.
Pre-Viewing Activity
Give each student a copy of the square-centime-
Procedure—Day 3
ter grid paper (Appendix A). Tell students that
each square measures exactly one centimeter on
each side and that the squares are called “square Introduce New Topic
centimeters.” Give each student a copy of the Perimeter and
Area worksheet (Appendix B). Have students cal-
Ask students to explain how they can calculate culate the perimeter of each rectangle or square.
the area of the rectangle shown on the graph Students should notice that all the quadrilaterals
paper. on the page have the same perimeter.

Tell students that there are several ways to calcu- Ask students if they think all of the rectangles
late the area. They will watch a video that and squares on the page have the same area.
describes some of the ways to calculate area.
Video
Video Tell students that they will now watch a video
Cue Program 1 from the series Math Works to that describes the difference between perimeter
approximate time code 09:50 (the beginning of and area. Cue Program 9 from the series Math
the animation). Tell students to write down the Works to approximate time code 12:52 (the
different ways to calculate area. Play the video beginning of the animation). Play the video until
until the end of the animation. the end of the animation.

After the video, use the following as prompts for After the video, ask the following questions.
discussion.
• What was the perimeter of Ali Baba’s magic
carpet?

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Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

• What was the area of Ali Baba’s magic carpet? Procedure—Day 4

• Why was Ali Baba’s new carpet so much
smaller than his old one, even though the Introduce New Topic
perimeters were the same? Explain to students that many people calculate
perimeter and area when they build a fence or
Have students calculate the area of each rectan- when they have to figure out how much wallpa-
gle or square. Students should notice that the per they need to buy to redecorate their bed-
areas are all different, even though the perime- room. Ask students to name some other
ters are the same. everyday examples of when people might need
to calculate perimeter and area.
Group Work
Have groups of students work together to solve Video
the following problems. Tell students that they will now watch a video in
which an athletic trainer explains how staff
Problem One. Your class is going to plant a gar- members at hotels calculate perimeter and area
den in the playground. You have been given 100 to determine how they can accommodate seven-
feet of fencing to place around the perimeter of and-a-half foot basketball players. Cue Episode 1
your garden. You want your garden to be as large from the series Math Can Take You Places to
as possible. What dimensions should your gar- approximate time code 03:08 (when Roger Hinds
den be? appears on the screen). Play the video until
approximate time code 08:25 (when Roger Hinds
Problem Two. You have been asked to help build stops talking).
a sandbox for the kindergartners at your school.
The perimeter of the sandbox should be 20 feet. Use the following as prompts for discussion after
If you want the sandbox to take up the least the video.
amount of space possible, what should the
dimensions of the sandbox be? • What must staff members at hotels do to pro-
vide a comfortable sleeping space for basket-
ball players?

• Describe how staff members at hotels use

perimeter and area to help them rearrange
their rooms for basketball players.

Group Work
Tell students to imagine that five new students
will be joining their class. They need to rearrange
Mathematics compares the the room to accommodate these new students.
Each student will need a desk to work at, and
most diverse phenomena they want to have as much room as possible for
the teacher and students to walk around the
and discovers the secret classroom. Have each group come up with a new
layout for the classroom. Students should draw
analogies that unite them. their designs on a piece of grid paper. Their
designs should show the dimensions of the
—Joseph Fourier

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 Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

classroom, as well as the dimensions of the fur- Extension Activity

niture. Have all the groups share their designs
with the class. Have students interview an adult, asking about
instances when he or she has had to calculate
the perimeter or area of a shape.
Assessment
Resources
Individual Assessment
Have students calculate the perimeter and area PBS Kids
of the following quadrilaterals. Cyberchase—Totally Rad Kids
pbskids.org/cyberchase/parentsteachers/
pdf/WR_totally_rad.pdf
This worksheet challenges students to exam-
2 in 11 in ine shapes with a perimeter of 12 and deter-
2 in mine which shape has the largest area.

5 in
Cyberchase—Airlines Builder
pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/perimeterarea/
perimeterarea.html
This online activity gives students the oppor-
48 cm
7m tunity to use an interactive ruler to measure
shapes on a Geoboard. Students are then
7m prompted to find the area and perimeter of
22 cm
the shape.

Writing Assignment Fun Brain.com—Shape Surveyor

Have students write a story about building a new www.funbrain.com/poly
house. This story should include a description of This Web site includes an online, interactive
when the construction crew needs to calculate game that gives students practice calculating the
the perimeter and area of shapes. perimeter and area of squares and rectangles.

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Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

Appendix A: Square-Centimeter Grid Paper

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 Lessons ALIVE: Engaging Learners with Video

Appendix B: Perimeter and Area Worksheet

3 in
5 in
7 in

5 in

5 in 9 in

10 in

1 in

6 in 2 in

8 in

4 in

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