Third Grade Texture Snowmen

Although the drawings/paintings themselves look simple, the students had to measure and mix tempera paint and baking soda to create a snow-like texture to paint their snowman:

Second Grade Rockets

Second Grade practiced using a ruler as a tool for measurement when drawing. Each student had to draw a rocket ship that was five inches long. They then added various lines to be the flames. The students colored the rocket ship with crayons and then painted the lines in color wheel order.

Wayne Thiebaud: Third Grade Popsicles

Third Graders had a mini measurement lesson during our study over artist Wayne Thiebaud. The had to measure four popsicles, two on each side, that were exactly five inches long. As a part of this lesson, we talked about symmetry and repetition. They then worked together to add white to various colors of tempera paint to make lighter tints to paint their popsicles. These were displayed as a part of Open House.

 

Measuring Length

The students worked in small groups to measure various objects around the room. They measured with a variety of units including Base Ten Blocks, paper clips, color tiles, etc. They then compared the length of their objects to those of other groups.

My Dream Bedroom: Area

To review area, the students designed their own dream bedroom. They first listed on a Circle Map furniture, toys, and other miscellaneous items they would love to have in their bedroom. They then drew those items, represented as squares and rectangles, on grid paper. After labeling the items, they measured the area, in squares, of each item and wrote sentences about their measurements. They then compared their items to one another according to their area.

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.

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.

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.