Measuring in the Garden

To review measuring and comparing length, we took our math lesson out to the school garden. Using pop cubes, the students took turns estimating and then measuring the various heights of plants. They compared the pop cube lengths to one another to determine which plant was the longest and which was the shortest. While we were in the garden we reviewed the parts of the plants and how bugs and plants are interdependent upon one another.

Area Animals

The students created various animals on one inch grid paper using color tiles. They the colored their animal on another sheet of grid paper. They then paired up with another student to compare the area of their animal with the area of their partner's animal. They then recorded which animal covered the most space and which animal covered the least area.

Parts of a Set: Names

To review parts of a set, the students colored their names in blue and red. They colored the vowels blue and the consonants red. They then counted how many vowels and consonants they had in their name and recorded it as fraction. It was a fun and easy way to practice parts of a set while also reviewing consonants and vowels.

Measurement: Capacity

The students worked in small groups to compare the capacity of various containers. They poured beans into the various containers focusing on leveling the top to make sure they were filled to capacity. They counted how many cups it took to fill the containers and also transferred from one container to another to see if there were beans left over or space left over.

Fraction Caterpillars

To review fractions and parts of a set, the students created Fraction Caterpillars. This idea originally came from The First Grade Parade. The students used dot stickers to create a caterpillar and then recorded how many of each color they had out of the set.

Fact Family Flowers

A former teammate of mine had a great idea to have the students create Fact Family Flowers. Each student was given a set of three numbers that would create a Fact Family. They had to decide what two addition sentences and two subtraction sentences they could create with those numbers. They recorded their numbers on the flower petals. Their flowers were added to the garden display along with their garden research and frog life cycles.

Comparing Area

To practice comparing area, we created large rectangles and squares on the tile floor. The students were asked to all stand in the rectangle that they thought covered the least area. They quickly realized that they could all barely fit inside the rectangle. They then moved to the rectangle they thought had the largest area. They realized then that they had much more room to move around and were not as crowded. They then counted how many floor tiles each rectangle contained to confirm their findings of which covered the most and which covered the least area.

Introduction to Area

To introduce the concept of area to the students, they were each given crackers of various shapes and sizes to cover with cheese. As they covered the crackers we discussed that area measures how much space something covers. We also discussed which cracker required more cheese and which required less to cover.