Sunday, April 22, 2012

Garden Geometry


Last week I took my students outside to create a garden. I gave them a task to measure off what I thought would be the shape of the garden.

After we went outside, I used the opportunity to teach perimeter and area.

The first activity on perimeter worked really well with my current class. The second one was much more difficult for them. After going through these exercises I edited the presentations so I can use them again in the future - and in the future I will run into new problems.

It was interesting to watch those were were engaged, and those who were not. There were also some who were "on and off". This is how it usually is in my classroom, but I expected them to all be interested in this. When we go out again tomorrow, weather permitting, I am going to have them work in teams and check each others' measurements.

It was also interesting to see who had forgotten how to measure from when we learned this in the beginning of the year.

This is how I want to teach - by doing first, then learning about why it works.

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