Area and Perimeter

Introduction

Welcome 4th grade Architects!

You have been chosen to design a getaway house for you and a friend. How exciting! Continue through this exploration to learn about the tools you need to make this project, a success!

Task

To get ready for this special assignment, you and your partner must be sure that you have the skills that you, the architects, will need. A solid understanding of area and perimeter is required. Once you show mastery through graph paper drawings, you will design and draw the floor plan for a small house. Then you will determine how much carpet you will need in two rooms and how much fencing you will need to go around your yard to make sure your dog doesn't get away while you are at school. Your final product will be a floor plan and a drawing of how your house will look from the front.

Process

At the computer:

Read all directions before you click.

Go to http://www.mathplayground.com/area_perimeter.html.

  1. Read everything CAREFULLY.
  2. Practice finding the area of several figures.
  3. Copy your favorite figure on graph paper. Tell the area and perimeter of the figure.  Don't forget the units on each.

Go to http://www.mathplayground.com/area_perimeter.html

  1. Read everything CAREFULLY.
  2. Practice finding the area of several figures.
  3. Copy your favorite figure on graph paper. Tell the area and perimeter of the figure.  Don't forget the units on each.

As a final review, go to Math Goodies - Perimeter.

  1. Read carefully and do exercises 1-3.  (You may need to draw them on graph paper.) 
  2. Print page 2 to show your teacher the work sheet.

Now try Math Goodies - Area.

  1. Read carefully and do exercises 1-3.  (You may need to draw them on graph paper.) 
  2. Print page 2 to show your teacher the work sheet.

At home

  • Measure the length and width of  your bedroom and one other room in feet so that you will know what a normal room size is.  The rooms you draw will be smaller.

In the classroom:

With your partner:

  1. Compare the measurements you gathered at home.
  2. Draw a house on 1cm graph paper. 
    Your house must have at least three rooms and a perimeter of at least 120 feet.
  3. Figure out how many square feet of carpet you will need for 2 rooms. 
    Show those measurements in the drawing of the room.
  4. Draw the fence around the yard.
    How much fencing will you need?  Include the unit.
  5. Draw the front view of your house.
Evaluation

 House Check List

Name _________________________________________  Date ___________________________

  1. We have completed the graph picture of the Area Explorer activity. _______
            We showed the area and perimeter. _____
            We included a unit with each measurement. _____

  2. We have completed the graph picture of the Perimeter Explorer activity. _____
            We showed the area and perimeter. _____
            We included a unit with each measurement. _____

  3. We have completed the activity page for Math Goodies - Perimeter and have printed it. ______

  4. We have completed the activity page for Math Goodies - Area and have printed it. _______

  5. We have completed the graph drawing of our house. _____
        It has at least 3 rooms. _____
        It has a perimeter of at least 120 feet. ______
        We have shown the amount of carpet that we will need for two rooms. ______
        We have drawn a fence around our house.  _____ 
        We  have shown how many feet of fencing we will need. _____

  6. We have drawn the  picture of the front of our house. It looks GOOD! _____

Conclusion

CONGRATULATIONS again! You have used your knowledge of measurement, area and perimeter to design a house.  You have also used your artistic ability to share it with your classmates.  Who knows? This may be the beginning of a new career.

Credits

("Finding the Area and Perimeter of Rectangles," 2014). Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://www.mathplayground.com/area_perimeter.html

("Perimeter Explorer," 2014). Retreived March 17, 2014, from http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/PerimeterExplorer/

Dodge, Bernie. ( 2007). Webquest.org. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://webquest.org/index-create.php