Area Day (Grades PreK-12)

Graphic: Andrew Ault

In honor of Math Education Month, we celebrate area by awarding it its own day! Area is a topic that spans all levels of school mathematics. Here we have gathered activities and resources that can be used at various grades, from primary to college preparatory.

Web Resources

1. Principles and Standards for School Mathematics: Measurement
   
   http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter3/meas.htm
   (ENC#017737) Grades preK-12. Measurement appears as one of the content standards in the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics at every grade band level. Embedded in most practical areas of everyday life, measurement also appears in such higher math as geometry and the conceptual underpinnings of calculus.
   
   
2. A Tour of Measurement
   
   http://mathforum.org/paths/measurement/index.html
   (ENC#014912) Grades preK-12. This web site offers resources for all grade levels. Lesson plans and materials organized here come from a variety of sites and organizations. Worth a visit!
   
   

Ready-to-Go Activities

1. Find the Area of the Shape!
   
   http://mathforum.org/workshops/sum98/participants/muenster/index2.html
   (ENC#013909) Grades 7-10. At this web site, students can explore area relationships by manipulating the dimensions of geometric figures.
   
   
2. Conservation of Area
   
   http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/geo/cava/cava.html
   Grades 7-10. Students can experiment here by shifting parts of a rectangle, all the while observing that the actual area of the figure remains the same.
   
   
3. Hispanic Math: Perimeter and Area
   
   http://tblr.ed.asu.edu/hmp/
   (ENC#028140) Grades 4-6. This site introduces the relationship between perimeter and area through a movie (spoken in either Spanish or English), followed by online exercises on a geoboard.
   
   
4. Rectangle Approximation Method
   
   http://www.runet.edu/~wyang/MAPLE/java/java/kubunqX2jo/kubunqx2jo.html
   Grades 11-12. This activity deals with the calculus concept of finding the area under a curve. In this activity, students decide how many rectangles to use in approximating the area. Here you might ask the students to find increasingly more accurate approximations as they increase the number of rectangles used.
   
   
5. Measuring Circles
   
   http://www.arcytech.org/java/pi/measuring.html
   Grades 6-10. In this lesson, students measure many circles to look for a relationship between circumference and diameter. The site gives them tools to measure online and to find the ratio C/d in each case. This activity could lead naturally into a discussion of the perimeter and area of a circle.
   
   
6. The Shape Explorer
   
   http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/perimeter/index.html
   Grades 2-7. This JAVA applet allows students to test their skill in finding perimeter and area of various nontandard shapes. In addition, here is a set of questions for exploration: Shape Explorer Exploration Questions.
   
   

Classroom Resources from the ENC Collection

1. Packaging and the environment
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1994 Grade(s): 6 - 8 Cost: $22.95 ENC#: 001974
   In this measurement unit, middle school students discover surface area and volume formulas as they design and construct boxes of different shapes and learn about exponents, variables, estimation, percents, and calculator operations. They also gain an understanding of the environmental and social implications of the decisions companies make about packaging. Activities include developing a process for calculating volume and surface area, redesigning cereal boxes to make cubical boxes of equal volume, setting up proportions to determine the percentage of cardboard cubical cereal boxes saved, and calculating the effects of doubling the dimensions of cubical boxes of their own design.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
2. Mouse and elephant: measuring growth
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1986 Grade(s): 5 - 8 Cost: $2.96 - $15.96 ENC#: 001544
   This two- to three-week unit challenges students to answer two questions: Given a mouse and an elephant of specified heights, how many mice does it take to balance the elephant, and how many mouse coats are needed to make a coat for the elephant? In the eight activities, students examine the effects of holding one measure constant and varying the shape, determine which shapes produce the maximum and minimum values in the varying measures, and investigate the effects of growth on different measures. A detailed instruction guide is provided for each activity.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
3. Exploring perimeter, area and volume: the zoo design challenge
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1993 Grade(s): 5 - 9 Cost: $10.00 - $299.00 ENC#: 007227
   This hands-on laserdisc kit draws students into problems on space and measurement through a story about two teens working at a local zoo who try to design a better monkey habitat. Their challenge is to come up with a design that is cost effective yet comfortable for the zoo's inhabitants as well as its visitors. Students use worksheets, newspapers, design plan books, and manipulatives as they explore the concepts of perimeter, area, and volume as well as the relationship among them.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   

Teacher Resources from the ENC Collection

1. Mathematics activities for the elementary classroom. Level 2 to 3.
   Date: 1996 Grade(s): 2 - 3 Cost: $19.95 ENC#: 010455
   This teacher resource book, part of the K-6 Science and Math (KSAM) series, contains 42 mathematics activities developed by a team of inservice elementary school teachers. The purpose of the series is to provide elementary school teachers with quality materials designed to supplement and enrich any existing curriculum. Activities found in this resource are organized around seven categories. One of these is estimation and measurement strategies. For each activity, the authors outline its major content areas, the mathematical processes used in completing it, and any prerequisite skills needed, followed by a complete guide for implementing the activity. For higher grades, there is Mathematics for the Elementary Classroom, Level 4 to 6 (ENC-010456), which follows the same format.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
2. Measurement in the middle grades
   Date: 1994 Grade(s): 5 - 8 Cost: $20.95 ENC#: 002593
   These 24 activities are designed to encourage students to explore real-life problems, to discover patterns, and to develop higher-order thinking skills. Each cluster of investigations includes teacher notes with objectives and materials, reproducible activity sheets, and suggestions for integrating technology and alternative assessment.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
3. Making the connection. High school mathematics.
   Date: 1996 Grade(s): 10 - 11 Cost: Free ENC#: 011062
   This instructional resource contains a collection of reproducible activities that were developed and piloted by teachers. Each activity addresses a different mathematical concept or skill in measurement, probability, and statistics. With each activity, teachers will find an overview of the activity, directions for implementing the activity, reproducible student handouts, and a scoring guide with sample student responses. Users are encouraged to share these activities with colleagues, organize study groups to talk about these materials, and find new ways to assess student performance with respect to these activities. A similar resource is available for grades 3 to 5: Making the Connection, Elementary Mathematics (ENC-011061).
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   

Search Strategies

Find more materials by searching Curriculum Resources on ENC Online using these terms: Area, Calculus, Geometry, Measurement, Perimeter, Rectangles, Surface area, or Volume.