length, perimeter, & area | strempletechtools

Interactivate: Length, Perimeter, & Area

Curator: William Stremple

Name & Link to Tech Tool or Tool homepage: http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/ShapeExplorer/

Brief Description of Tech Tool: This tool can be used for students to discover area and perimeter of both regular and non-regular polygons. It requires little knowledge of formulas and can be helpful in students understanding the concepts and relationships between area and perimeter.

Technical & Cost considerations: It is a free applet. It does require the use of java to run.

Evaluation

Description of Learning Activity

This applet serves as a game students can play individually for practice. It can also be used as a whole class or in groups for practice, but I believe it would best serve students on an individual basis. This way, students can cater the game to their abilities and level of understanding without other students being aware.

1. Learning Activity Types

Practice - Students are able to practice calculating area and perimeter of simple and complex shapes for a pre-determined amount of time.
Present - Students can read through the 'Learner' portion of the applet and recieve an introduction to calculating area and perimeter. They can then use it as practice for the new content.

2. What mathematics is being learned?

NCTM Standards

NCTM-Geo-analyze - analyze characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships;

VA SOL Strands

8.11 - The student will solve practical area and perimeter problems involving composite plane figures

Proficiency Strands

conceptual understanding: Students work continuously with similar shapes and ideals of calculating area and perimeter.
procedural fluency: Students gain knowledge and processes on how to calculate area and perimeter of composite shapes.

3. How is the mathematics represented?

The mathematics in this tool are represented graphically and visually. The use of the coordinate plane is helpful to simplify the calculations for area and perimeter. It provides students with an alternate way to find these answers, but also allows them to view the concepts in an alternate way. The technology makes it easy for teachers to provide students with multiple examples of problems involving simple area and perimeter calculations. Also, it keeps track of the area and perimeter of each shape so students can compare shapes with different shapes and styles and see how the area/perimeter differ.

4. What role does technology play?

Advantages

· The technology makes it possible for students to work with a multitude of shapes and really hone their skills and knowledge of the concepts of area and perimeter.

· Differentiates instruction for students.

Disadvantages

· Is very basic and only requires students to count the number of blocks for area and perimeter. This applet would be more diverse if some shapes were more complex or the grids were changed/removed.

· There are many options students have control of. Some students will just choose the smallest shapes and take the easy problems. Needs to be carefully monitored.

· The applet does not give any remediation if an answer is wrong, it just tells students they are incorrect.

Unique Contribution

· Allows instructors to differentiate instruction for students based on ability levels because of the size slider.

Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning

· Computing & Automating - Students are able to create or randomize the shape they are dealing with, but ultimately are getting lots of practice calculating area and perimeter of shapes

5. How does the technology fit or interact with the social context of learning?

This applet would be best if used individually by students. It would allow them to work at their own pace and adapt the problems to their level of abilities. Although, this technology could be used in groups/partners/etc, these approaches may actually hinder the students from getting adequate practice.

6. What do teachers and learners need to know?

Other than the knowledge of whether or not your computers are compatible with Java, the applet is not very difficult to use. There are no real technology skills, all that is involved is clicking different items and entering numbers into boxes.

7. How could this resource supplement/facilitate PBL?

This resource can be used to supplement PBL by having students practice what they are learning.