EXPLORE: Area

Lesson

Let’s Explore!

Estimating and measuring the sizes of common areas is a great skill to have. To do this it is important that you understand the size of a square meter and a square centimeter. Let’s discover how big a square meter and a square centimeter are by doing the following activities:

Ask your teacher or parent to mark out a square meter on the floor. Now time to explore and get a sense of this space. Answer the following questions:

How do you feel when you sit in it?
Can you reach the edges?
Can you sit in the space with a friend?
If you stand in the middle with your arms outstretched, do you have space to spin around? Is that about a meter?

Now ask your teacher or parent to draw a square centimeter in your notebook. Can you draw something similar in size? How does it compare to a thumb or a finger?

Let's try for more!

Estimate first

The area of the square marked on the floor is 1 square meter while the area of the square in your notebook is 1 square centimeter. Now that you know how big a square meter and a square centimeter are, it’s time to estimate and measure a larger area of space at school where your teacher will lead you.

Measure

This time, find a way to informally measure a square meter. Think of an object or objects that you could use to measure a square meter, then use that object to measure the space assigned by your teacher or parent.

Draw it Out

Once you have taken some measurements, you will need to use grid paper to draw out the space to scale. The easiest way for you to do this is for 1 unit square on the grid paper to equal 1 of the object that you used to measure.

From the grid drawing, come up with a final measurement for the area of the space in meters.

Reflect

Reflect on the things you found difficult. What is something that you learned? What might you do differently next time?