Carpet vs. Fences

This week we move from lines and angles to the application of geometry through area and perimeter.  We will continue to visit angles, lines, and rays through our warm-ups and Pizzazz, but our work for the rest of this unit will be the kind of geometry we use in our "real" lives.

AREA

Today (Monday) I thought about fences and carpets and how they summarize what we need to think about when we think about perimeter (fences) or area (carpets). When I went to Menard's on Saturday with Mr. Carlson, we were looking at new carpet for our bedroom.  We had to know how many square feet (actually square yards) we needed.  It occurred to me that I use this skill all the time without really having to think about it.  I'm hoping that the practice we have this week will begin to provide that kind of facility to seventh-graders.

Sometimes seventh-graders have learned the formulas for area and perimeter without really understanding what they are doing.  We have been talking a LOT about what we are finding when we find area (the number of square units in something, even if that something is ROUND).

PERIMETER

This Week:

Monday: Review of area of triangles and parallelograms
Tuesday:  Area of irregular polygons
Wednesday:  Investigating surface area
Thursday: Practicing surface area and CFA 5.3
Friday:  Area of a circle (Lab) and relearn/retest/review

How Many Triangles Do YOU See?

This week we continue our study of geometry by digging into lines, angles, and, on Thursday, triangles.

We will have CFA 5.2 on Thursday and a reteach/relearn/revisit opportunity on Friday. We were excited by the excellent results on CFA 5.1.  All but 4 students were proficient on the first or second try!

I enjoyed talking with many of you (and sharing this blog) at conferences last week.  Remember we have conferences again on Thursday, February 21, from 4:00 to 8:00 PM.  Feel free to stop by without a scheduled time.

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by geometry, check out the following websites with great explanations and online activities:

http://www.freemathhelp.com/feliz-vocabulary.html

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/index.html

Big Week = Short Post

This week we will complete Unit 4: Ratios, Proportions, and Percents.  We will have two days of review on Monday and Tuesday.  Students will take the Unit 4 Post-test on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we will start a new unit with a pre-test and remembering what we already know.  For the next month or so, we will be learning about geometry.
And on Friday, it will all start with a puzzle....