Activity Overview
Students learn to explore relationships between units of measure and objects to be measured. They develop an understanding of length, area, and volume.
Before the Activity
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 47 - 62 from the attached PDF file
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class
Follow the activity procedure:
Activity 1: Popcorn Container
Use a rectangular piece of paper and examine a cylinder made by joining the long sides and another cylinder made by joining the short sides
Calculate the volume of the two cylinders using the formulas for the circumference of a circle and the volume of a cylinder
Observe that though the surface area is the same the two cylinders have different volume
Activity 2: Hexaright
Draw six-sided hexagons on square centimeter graph paper, sides along the lines on the paper, adjacent sides being perpendicular, and with perimeters of 28 cm
Observe that the perimeter of the hexagon is the perimeter of the related rectangle
Find the area of the largest hexagon
Observe that the largest area is found by removing one square from the corner of a 7 x 7 square and is 48 square centimeter
Activity 3: Eggsactly
Use calipers to measure the length and width of eggs and record the data
Predict the length and width of a chicken egg
Plot the width and length data as a scatter plot
Use linear regression to find the line of best fit
Find the expression relating the length and width of the eggs
Use other elementary school activities to develop an understanding of measurement and geometry
After the Activity
Review students results and re-teach concepts as necessary.