Last week, we learned that we can find the area of a square by multiplying the length by the width. A=L * W a formula we may remember from our school days. Students are also thinking about how we may find the number of pieces that cover that "square area"--including using the fractional parts.
For example:
How many 1/2 ft squares or parts would you need to fill one square foot?
It would take four 1/2 square feet pieces to create one square foot.
We were looking for a pattern to help us solve other problems. Some noticed that if we multiply the denominators, we will get the number of pieces needed to cover the square foot. In the second example, it would take nine 1/3 square feet pieces to cover one square foot.
This week, we transitioned to volume. Students have been working to find the volume using either of the following formulas:
V = L * W * H or V = B * H
Students were also working to visualize the size of various cubic units. We have worked with cubic centimeters, cubic decimeters, and cubic meters. Below, you can see us building a cubic meter.
These first few days in math have been challenging. However, it is exciting to see students think deeply about math!
