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Lesson Plan: Animal Homes

Subject:  Math

Grade: 3

Lesson Objective: To determine the perimeter of different shaped animal homes given the side lengths

Common Core StandardCCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.D.8-  Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.

Materials:

Starter:

Say:

  • What is a perimeter?  (Allow the students to answer.)

Main:

Say:

  • The perimeter is the distance around a two-dimensional shape.  Why do you think we would need to know the perimeter of something?  (Allow the students to answer.)
  • The most common reason for wanting to find the perimeter of something is so that a fence can be put up.  You need to know how much fence to buy. 
  • Another reason for wanting to find the perimeter of something is for a game.  You might need to make a field that is a certain length and a certain width.
  • Raise your hand if you know how to find the perimeter of a shape that is not round.  (Allow the students to share.)
  • To find the perimeter of a shape that is not round, you add the lengths of all of the sides of that shape.  For example, if there was a square that had one side that was 4 inches long, you would add 4 inches 4 times (or multiply 4 times 4) to get 16 inches for the perimeter.
  • You can also find the length of a side of a shape if you know the rest of the shape lengths and the total perimeter.  For example, if you were given a picture of a five-sided shape that had the lengths of 4 sides and the total perimeter, you would add the 4 sides and then subtract that from the total perimeter to find the length of the other side.
  • Now, you are going to be figuring out the perimeter of some animal homes.  For some of the problems, you will find the perimeter.  For some of the problems, you will find the length of the missing side.  When you are done, we will go over all of the answers.
  • Does anyone have any questions?

Feedback:

Say:

  • Who would like to share your answers?  (Allow the students to share.)

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Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer

Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.

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