Junior Architect

This is a link to a four-day lesson plan that includes literature, geoboards, architectural blueprints, as well as a lot of student involvement and application. This excellent plan will engage students and encourage them to relate math to the real world. Students will sort geometric figures, determine perimeter and area, create two-dimensional blueprints, and use a scale drawing to construct a three-dimensional model. This plan provides many opportunities for differentiation. The first two lessons could easily be combined into one lesson, and the last two days could be extended. Opportunities for extension are present with the possibilities for finding perimeter and area of the scale drawing and models and comparing them and linking to scale factor.

Standards & Objectives

Academic standards
CCSS.Math.Content.6.G.A.2
Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with fractional edge lengths by packing it with unit cubes of the appropriate unit fraction edge...
CCSS.Math.Content.6.G.A.4
Represent three-dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area of these figures....
CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.A.1
Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve word problems involving division of fractions by fractions, e.g., by using visual fraction...
CCSS.Math.Content.7.EE.B.3
Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and...
CCSS.Math.Content.7.G.A.1
Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a...
CCSS.Math.Content.7.G.B.4
Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems; give an informal derivation of the relationship between...
CCSS.Math.Content.7.G.B.6
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles,...
CCSS.Math.Content.7.NS.A.2
Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers.
CCSS.Math.Content.7.NS.A.3
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving the four operations with rational numbers.1
CCSS.Math.Content.8.G.C.9
Know the formulas for the volumes of cones, cylinders, and spheres and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
CCSS.Math.Content.8.NS.A.1
Know that numbers that are not rational are called irrational. Understand informally that every number has a decimal expansion; for rational...
GLE 0101.2.1
Develop critical listening skills essential for comprehension, problem solving, and task completion.
GLE 0606.1.3
Develop independent reasoning to communicate mathematical ideas and derive algorithms and/or formulas.
GLE 0606.2.1
Understand and explain the procedures for multiplication and division of fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.
GLE 0606.2.2
Solve multi-step mathematical, contextual and verbal problems using fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.
GLE 0606.2.4
Understand and convert between fraction, decimal, and percent forms of rational numbers.
GLE 0606.4.3
Develop and use formulas to determine the circumference and area of circles, and the area of trapezoids, and develop strategies to find the area of composite shapes.
GLE 0606.4.4
Develop and use formulas for surface area and volume of 3-dimensional figures.
GLE 0706.1.2
Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to problem solving, including estimation, and reasonableness of the solution.
GLE 0706.1.8
Use technologies/manipulatives appropriately to develop understanding of mathematical algorithms, to facilitate problem solving, and to create accurate and...
GLE 0706.2.1
Extend understandings of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to integers.
GLE 0706.2.2
Understand and work with the properties of and operations on the system of rational numbers.
GLE 0706.4.3
Understand and use scale factor to describe the relationships between length, area, and volume.
GLE 0806.2.1
Extend understanding of the real number system to include irrational numbers.
SPI 0606.2.1
Solve problems involving the multiplication and division of fractions.
SPI 0606.2.2
Solve problems involving the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of mixed numbers.
SPI 0606.2.4
Solve multi-step arithmetic problems using fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.
SPI 0606.4.4
Calculate with circumferences and areas of circles.
SPI 0606.4.5
Determine the surface area and volume of prisms, pyramids and cylinders.
SPI 0606.4.6
Given the volume of a cone/pyramid, find the volume of the related cylinder/prism or vice versa.
SPI 0706.1.4
Use scales to read maps.
SPI 0706.2.3
Use rational numbers and roots of perfect squares/cubes to solve contextual problems.
SPI 0706.2.5
Solve contextual problems that involve operations with integers.
SPI 0706.4.3
Apply scale factor to solve problems involving area and volume.
SPI 0806.2.2
Identify numbers and square roots as rational or irrational.
TSS.Math.6.G.A.2
Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with fractional edge lengths by packing it with unit cubes of the appropriate unit fraction edge lengths, and...
TSS.Math.6.G.A.4
Represent three-dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area of these figures. Apply these...
TSS.Math.6.NS.A.1
Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models...
TSS.Math.7.EE.B.3
Solve multi-step real-world and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers presented in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and...
TSS.Math.7.G.A.1
Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale...
TSS.Math.7.G.B.3
Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems; give an informal derivation of the relationship between the...
TSS.Math.7.G.B.5
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume, and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles,...
TSS.Math.7.NS.A.2
Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers.
TSS.Math.7.NS.A.3
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving the four operations with rational numbers. (Computations with rational numbers extend the rules for...
TSS.Math.8.G.C.7
Know and understand the formulas for the volumes of cones, cylinders, and spheres, and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
TSS.Math.8.NS.A.1
Know that numbers that are not rational are called irrational. Understand informally that every number has a decimal expansion; for rational numbers show...
 
Alignment of this item to academic standards is based on recommendations from content creators, resource curators, and visitors to this website. It is the responsibility of each educator to verify that the materials are appropriate for your content area, aligned to current academic standards, and will be beneficial to your specific students.
 
Learning objectives: 

Learning Objectives:

Students will:

  • Complete a chart by multiplying or dividing a given value.
  • Compare two categories of information in graphic form (line graph).
  • Identify number patterns.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

  • Formulate questions, design studies, and collect data about a characteristic shared by two populations or different characteristics within one population.
  • Select, create, and use appropriate graphical representations of data, including histograms, box plots, and scatterplots.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying
Extension suggestions: 

Extensions :

  • In the sports section of the newspaper (or Internet news source), find the weights of ten different athletes. Figure the weights of their skins and then rank the weights from highest to lowest. What is the difference between the highest and the lowest?
  • Move on to the next lesson, Whale Weight.

Helpful Hints

Materials:

  • Two colored crayons for each student (preferably red and blue)
  • A local newspaper or Internet news source
  • Graph Paper 
  • Skin Weight Activity Sheet 

References

Contributors: