Activity Overview
Students understand the concept of perimeter of a square, and discover its formula.
Before the Activity
Set up the calculator as explained in the activity
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 31 - 34 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
- Use square colored tiles to create squares
- Record in the Activity sheet the number of people that can be seated around the tables
- Calculate the perimeter of the square
- Observe that the perimeter of a square is the number of people that can be seated around it
- Notice that the perimeter of a square table is 4 times the length of the square
- Write the pattern as a formula y = x * 4, where y represents the number of people, and x denotes the length of the side
- Use the calculator to create a table of side length and perimeter values
- Calculate the different square table arrangements possible to seat a given number of people
After the Activity
Students complete the Student Activity sheet.
Review student results:
- As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
- Re-teach concepts as necessary