Lesson Planning Guide

Title: Perimeter, Area, Surface Area and
Volume / Time Required: Well over 1 week
Lesson Submitted By: Victoria Rans

Lesson Contextualized Toward: ☒Career Pathway: Horticulture
Content Standards Benchmarks Taught: M.1.3.13, M.1.4.15, M.2.4.1, M.2.4.3, M.3.4.2, M.4.2.1
Digital Literacy Skills Taught: T.2.4.1, T.6.1.1, T.6.1.3, T.6.2.4
Learning Goals/Rationale:
Students will master their understanding of perimeter, area, surface area and volume while using a real world approach. They will solve problems and improve skills that they will need in a career in horticulture
Materials/Resources Needed:
Preconstructed garden beds of various shapes, measuring tapes, gallons of paint (not necessary; may only be used for demonstration), bags of garden soil, (not necessary; may only be used for demonstration), smaller containers in the shape of cones, spheres and pyramids.
Procedure/Instructional Outline:
Outcomes / Content / Activities / Assessment
1. Understand how
to calculate
perimeter and
area
2. Understand
how to calculate
surface area
3. Understand
how to calculate
volume
4. Understand
the relationship
of composite
figures to
area, volume,
perimeter and
surface area. / Measurement
of simple shaped
planting beds
using perimeter
and area formulas
Measurement
of simple
shaped planting beds using surface area
formulas
Measurement
of simple shaped planting beds using volume formulas
Measurement
of perimeter,
area and
volume of simple
shaped
planting beds
and either
adding them
as composite
shapes or
subtracting
negative
space / * Discuss that when working in garden or general landscape spaces, it is important to be able to calculate how much space you have to work with.
* Introduce formulas for calculating the perimeter and area of simple shapes (square, rectangle, circle, triangle).
* Have students measure and calculate the perimeter and area of the various garden containers that you have brought in.
* Have students use the internet to establish a price per foot for wood and have students calculate the cost for building at least one garden container or bed.
* Discuss the concept of surface area and introduce the idea that you may need to paint or cover these beds with paint or another material.
* Introduce formulas for calculating the surface area of the containers.
* Discuss cones, pyramids and spheres and introduce the formulas for calculating these surface areas.
* Have students measure and calculate surface area for the garden containers as well as for cones, pyramids and spheres.
* Have students use the internet to establish a price per gallon for paint and how much it would cover. Have students use surface area formulas to determine the price for painting a specific planting bed or container.
* Discuss the concept of volume and that it is how such products as
soil and mulch are measured.
* Introduce the formulas for measuring the volumes of many 3
dimensional containers.
* Have students measure and calculate the volume of a wide variety
of simple containers of various sizes.
*Have students use the internet to establish the price of garden soil per
square foot and have students determine the cost of filling these
various containers.
*Put together a few of the
beds/containers and demonstrate that while area and volume do not change, perimeter and surface area do
change.
* Cut out an area from a planting bed
(e.g. remove a circular area from a rectangular bed for a pond); recalculate how much planting
area is now available. / Student submits the calculated
perimeter and area of all containers.
Student calculates
the cost of building one specific bed.
Student submits the calculated surface area of all
containers. Student calculates
the price for
painting the specific bed from the previous activity.
Student submits the calculated volume of all containers.
Student calculates
the cost of filling their bed with soil in cubic feet. Have students compile the total cost of building a garden bed.
Student submits the perimeter, area and volume of various composite shaped
garden beds.
Student submits the perimeter, area and
volume of various
composite shaped garden beds that contain negative space.
All four activities should be conducted using explanation/modeling, guided practice, and finally, application. During the guided practice phase students will work together as a team to take measurements and work through the formulas to obtain accurate measurements. During the application phase students will work on their own.
Extension activity ­ ( M.2.4.2) After a lesson in ratio and proportion, students would use the extensive measurements that they have taken to create scale drawing of their garden beds in a landscape.
Extension activity ­ (M.1.4.15) Introduce the concept of unit rate. Establish a price for dirt/ mulch using a large volume measurement per square yard. The students should then use the volume measurements that they have collected to calculate what the price would be to fill their containers per square yard and then per square foot.
Extension activity ­ (M.3.4.4.) Introduce students to the Pythagorean Theorem and discuss when they might use this along the many 90 degree angles of a fenced yard. Calculate volume of dirt for such a building such a bed. What if the bed is one foot deep? One and and half feet? Three feet?
This lesson could easily be brought outside and become a true hands­on activity.