The Following activities are a sample that I have taken from the Teacher's Web Site that can be located at www.teachers.net
Check out the web site to see if there is any other lessons there that is of interest to you.
Measuring Radius and Circumference
Materials Required:
A cross section of a tree or large branch. Masking tape, ruler
Activity Time:
20 minutes
Concepts Taught:
Annual Rings, Tree growth rate ,environmental science
Explain
to students the concept of annual rings. The rings are really a tubular
system that
carries
water from roots to
top of
tree. For every year the tree is alive it has another outer ring. In years
with great
precipitation
the rings are further apart.
Also,
if you measure the circumference of a tree in inches, one inch is approximately
one
year
of age for the tree. 30
inch
bark is about 30 years old etc.
First
have students count the number of rings they see. Instruct them move to
the widest
areas
if the rings has an indented circumference. Let each group come up with
the number
of rings.
Then
to confirm the number of years, have students take masking tape and tape
the entire
perimeter
of the tree ring. Cut the tape where the end meets the beginning. Carefully
remove
the tape and place it up on the black board. (using different colors keeps
students
awake,
is more lively as and keeps the groups separate). Have students come up
to the
board
and measure the tape with a ruler in inches. Every year a tree is alive
is
approximately
one inch of circumference. How close were the annual ring count to the
circumference
measurement. Usually they are pretty close.
Look
at the spacing between the rings and ask the children
where
it rained the most. The students enjoy this truly hands on activity. Once
you locate
the wood
rings you can use them for years.
Materials Required:
20 cube-a-links, record sheet
Activity Time:
10-20 minutes
Concepts Taught:
Measurement, data collection
This is
an activity to go with the original backpack description.
Create
a sheet which asks the children to find different lengths around their
house.
Example:
Find something that is 10 cubes long, draw and label
Find
something that is 12 cubes long, draw and label
You can
list as many as you would like the children to do.
I also
add a box that they draw something, and label how many cubes long it is
and I have
to guess
what
it is by their drawing. This creates a lot of excitement.
As well
I may include an activity sheet from the unit that we were working on.
Photocopy
enough for each student to do the activity.
Materials Required:
rulers for each student, construction paper, (pirate hats if desired)
Activity Time:
30 - 40 minutes
Concepts Taught:
measurement
I sent
my second graders on a "Measure Hunt". We have learned about feet, inches,
centimeters
and meters. I divided the class into groups of 2 -3 "pirates" and gave
each
group
a specific number (eg. 5 inches) to measure around the room. Each group
had to
search
the room for objects of that length and record what they found...they measured
pencils,
desks, classmate's feet, big books,
words
on the word wall...anything they could find!
After
a certain amount of time, I had all of my pirates return to their "ship"
(group of
desks)
and create a poster of a treasure chest. Inside the lid, it says the measurement
they
were
searching for. In the treasure chest, they drew pictures of the objects
they found.
They
then shared their posters with the class. (By the way, I warned the class
that any
pirate
who got too noisy was going to "walk the plank"...not one single voice
got louder
than
a whisper!)
Measuring Radius and Circumference
Materials Required:
ruler, bubbles, worksheet
Concepts Taught:
measurement
wet each
desk. pass out bubbles to groups of two. have them blow bubbles on desktop.
pick
a bubble and measure the diameter with the ruler. write down on worksheet
as bubble
#1. follow
formulas to find the radius and circumference. they can do 10 bubbles,
taking
turns
measuring and computing.
Materials Required:
A cross section of a tree or large branch. Masking tape, ruler
Activity Time:
20 minutes
Concepts Taught:
Annual Rings, Tree growth rate ,environmental science
Explain
to students the concept of annual rings. The rings are really a tubular
system that
carries
water from roots to
top of
tree. For every year the tree is alive it has another outer ring. In years
with great
precipitation
the rings are further apart.
Also,
if you measure the circumference of a tree in inches, one inch is approximately
one
year
of age for the tree. 30
inch
bark is about 30 years old etc.
First
have students count the number of rings they see. Instruct them move to
the widest
areas
if the rings has an indented circumference. Let each group come up with
the number
of rings.
Then
to confirm the number of years, have students take masking tape and tape
the entire
perimeter
of the tree ring. Cut the tape where the end meets the beginning. Carefully
remove
the tape and place it up on the black board. (using different colors keeps
students
awake,
is more lively as and keeps the groups separate). Have students come up
to the
board
and measure the tape with a ruler in inches. Every year a tree is alive
is
approximately
one inch of circumference. How close were the annual ring count to the
circumference
measurement. Usually they are pretty close.
Look
at the spacing between the rings and ask the children
where
it rained the most. The students enjoy this truly hands on activity. Once
you locate
the wood
rings you can use them for years.
Materials Required:
Cardboard Shapes of Triangle, Circle, Square, Rectangles, Small Rulers,
Worksheet
Activity Time:
1/2 an Hour
Concepts Taught:
Perimeter and Area of Triangle, Circle, Square, and Rectangles
This game
works best as a hands-on "test" after you have done a unit on area and
perimeter
of triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles.
You cut
out (or buy) identically sized cardboard shapes of:
triangle
circle
square
rectangle
Pass
the cardboard shapes out to each student or to a pair of students who can
work together.
Students
then measure the lengths, widths, heights, diameters and radii of the different
objects.
They
record their answers on a worksheet that has formulas typed out for each
shape and
spaces
laid out for their calculations lengths, widths, heights, diameters and
radii of each
shape.
(Teacher creates)
The students
enjoy this project and are usually quite engrossed in figuring out the
measurements
and the final answers.
Materials Required:
Tangrams, computer, Geometer's Sketchpad, a performance event
Concepts Taught:
Geometry/measurement
Core Content
Are:
Geometry/measurement
Students
will:
Develop
a definition of a triangle
Identify
the parts of a triangle
Clarify
triangles by their parts
Embedded
Core Content:
Mathematical
structure
Opening
Activity
In your
own words, what is a triangle? What relationship does a triangle have with
a
square?
A hexagon? An octagon?
Teacher
directions
This
lesson can be taught in groups or individually. The major limitation to
the lesson is the
amount
of computers and tangrams are available for class.
Student
directions:
Students
will use the tangrams to build or choose the appropriate triangle being
discussed.
They
will use the definitions to find the triangle in question. In groups, the
students will
construct
triangles on Geometer's Sketchpad and other students will classify the
triangles
an identify
the parts of the constructed triangles.
Closing
activity
Students
will review the main ideas discussed in the lesson.
Assignment
In your
environment, find twenty triangles, draw the triangles as you see them
and classify
the triangles
according to their attributes (SIDE AND ANGLE).