Title of Lesson: The Area of Things Grade: 1 Mathematics Learning Objectives

Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.
001
Title of Lesson: The Area of Things
Grade: 1st
Mathematics Learning Objectives:

Students will recognize the attributes of length and volume
Students will measure area using nonstandard units
Students will measure with multiples of units of the same size (i.e. cotton balls)
Alignment with Oklahoma Standards
Common Core Standards:
Domain/Content:
Kindergarten, Measurement & Data
CCSS. Math. Content.K.MD.A.1
Describe measurable attributes of objects such as length or weight.
Describe several measurable attributes of a single object
Grade 1, Measurement & Data
CCSS.Math.Content.1.MD.A.2
Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by
laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end;
understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of
same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to
contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number
of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1
Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools
such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.D.9
Generate measurement data by measuring lengths of several objects to the
nearest whole unit, or by making repeated measurements of the same
object. Show the measurements by making a line plot, where the
horizontal scale is marked off in whole-number units.
Mathematical Practices:
Reason abstractly and quantitatively: Students are creating their own formation
and then assessing the area of their creation.
Model with mathematics: Students can easily relate to this activity because it
gives a real context of manipulating cotton balls, or clouds, and finding the given
area of something they see everyday.
Look for and make use of structure: Students are creating their own structure then
applying their mathematical knowledge to find the area.
Use appropriate tools strategically: Students will use paper and cotton balls to
create their own model that will help them understand the area of an object.
Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.001
Prior Academic Knowledge and Conceptions:

Geometric and organic objects
Students that understand the idea of area and those who have never been introduced to the
concept of area are going to benefit from this lesson. Students that have no previously
knowledge of area are going to gain the idea of what area is while they create their own object
with its individually unique area. On the other hand, students that have the concept of area
introduced will be able to have a hands on approach to area in nonstandard units. The Area of
Things will provide students a concrete meaning of what area is and how it is composed. This
lesson will build on previous knowledge by having students work with geometric and organic
structures in a new way. They can use their knowledge of familiar shapes to create their own
object to find the area of. Due to the simplicity of finding the area in this activity, this is a great
way to introduce the idea of area before moving onto length times width and other higher
concepts. In order to activate the prior knowledge needed for this lesson, we will have a whole
class discussion about what the inside of a closed object means to them.
Common Errors and Misconceptions:
Students may find errors in the understanding of area versus perimeter. In this specific activity
perimeter is not focused on so if the confusion of these two contexts of measurement is brought
up, there can be a quick mini lesson of the difference of perimeter and area. Students may also
want to place the cotton balls spaciously on the paper rather than grouped together because they
do not understand the idea that area focuses on a closed object. To address that misconception,
after reading the Launch book have a class discussion about if the space of a closed and/or open
object can be measured.
Launch: 5 minutes
Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Instruction: 7 minutes
Using the examples from It Looked Like Spilt Milk, introduce the concept of measuring area
using nonstandard units. Create a simple closed formation made of cotton balls for a class
demonstration on the overhead. Create a class discussion of how many cotton balls make up the
formation and relate it back to area (what makes up the inside of a closed object).
Structured Practice and Application: 15-20 minutes
Students will use a piece of construction paper and cotton balls to construct their own formation
out of spilt milk. They are allowed to use anywhere between 4-25 cotton balls and the
formation must be a closed structure. Once the students begin creating their formations, make
sure they are paying attention to how many cotton balls are going into their creation. Once they
have completed their closed structure, they have to calculate the area. Students will use their
understanding of what the meaning of area is and also how to find out from their nonstandard
materials.
Closure: 3 minutes
At the end of the lesson, the class can discuss their different formations and the areas that they
calculated. Students will be able to share how they calculated their area with the other
classmates.
Differentiation/Planned Support:
For ELL students, the pictures in the book will assist as a visual representation for how they
should complete the activity. Having students work in pairs with ELL students will allow
support and inventive strategies to be shared together. The book for the lesson, Looks Like Spilt
Milk, is in a large format so that students with ELL can easily see the text and pictures. For
students with learning disabilities, construction paper with an outline of a formation can already
be drawn and the students can fill in how many cotton balls with fit within the outline. The
question, How many cotton balls did you use? can be prompted at the bottom of the page to
give them an idea of how to solve the area of their formation.
Student Interactions:
Students will partner with their elbow partner while they each complete their own object on
the construction paper. During this time, they will discuss different strategies that they are
implementing while creating their shape. They will also have a class discussion about their
findings throughout the lesson.
What Ifs:
If the students do not understand the concept of area, then the students can create a geometric
shape (square, rectangle, etc.) using the unifix cubes. This way the students can focus on area in
a more structured way that they can count like an array instead of a random shape.
Materials:
Construction paper
Glue Sticks
Cotton Balls
Chart paper
It Looked Like Spilt Milk, by Charles G. Shaw
Yarn - one 12 inch piece for each student
Pencils
12 inch rulers
Academic Language:
Area
Length
Width
Height
Graph Paper
Students will be introduced to these vocabulary terms before the lesson. There will be time for
students to brainstorm the vocabulary terms with their table groups and define them on their own
before coming together as a whole class and defining them indefinitely. Students will understand
that area is the space within a closed object, length is how long an object is, width is how wide
an object is, and height is how tall an object is. Graph paper will be used to help students stay
structured during the creation of their formal assessment and acts as a boundary. Graph paper
will also help the students move from a nonstandard unit to a standard unit of measurement.

Assessment:
Formal
Description: Give the students a piece of graph paper and assign them to create
their own robot on the paper, making sure to keep the body of the robot square
and to stay on the lines of the graph paper. Once they have created their robot
they are to find the area of their robot.
Modifications: Students with disabilities can have an already created robot outline
in which they can color and decorate. Once they complete their design, the
students can determine the area of their robot by counting the number of squares
inside.
Evaluation Criteria: Rubric is attached.
Informal
Description: Students will be prompted during the class discussion how they came
to their finalized area of their formations with the cotton balls. Students will
evaluate how many cotton balls they used, what that means for this activity, and
how they could implement the information they learned with standard units of
measurement.
Modifications: Students with disabilities and also ELL students can be apart of the
conversation and share their cloud formation with the class.
Evaluation Criteria: This will just be apart of a class discussion to see how well
the students understand the meaning of area. Later on, the area of each formation
can be checked to make sure the students were able to correctly figure out the
area.
Citation: http://illuminations.nctm.org/Lesson.aspx?id=704

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Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.

Mathematics Learning Objectives:

Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.001

Prior Academic Knowledge and Conceptions:

Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.001

Andrea Nance and Katelyn Byrd CIED 3153.001

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