WHERETO 

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The teacher will tell the students that today they are going to be learning about the circumference and area of circles. The teacher will review the parts of a circle with the students.  A virtual geoboard will be used as a formative assessment to review the parts of a circle:  http://nrich.maths.org/content/id/2883/circleAngles.swf.  Based on student responses, the teacher may compact the curriculum and advanced to the new concepts or review/reteach the vocabulary as necessary.  The teacher will then review that perimeter is the distance around a polygon and circumference is the distance around a circle.  The teacher will provide the students with a real-life scenario involving putting up a fence around a circular swimming pool.  She will ask the students how they could calculate the distance around the pool.  This will lead into a discussion about possible ways to calculate circumference.  The teacher will explain that during today’s lesson the students will be given the opportunity to calculate the circumference and area of a plethora of circles.

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When the students enter the classroom there will be hula hoops randomly placed on the floor.  The hula hoops will be used to help spark interest and conversation in today’s topic of discussion- circumference and area of circles.

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The teacher will divide the students into small groups.  Each group will be provided with a hula hoop, yarn, ruler, and scissors.  The students will use these resources to come up with a way to calculate the circumference of the hula hoop. The students will be given the opportunity to share their results and method used to calculate the circumference. 

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The teacher will  then have the students investigate the ratio of circumference to the diameter of a circle.  He/she will provide the students with circles of various sizes, yarn, scissors and rulers.  The students will measure the distance around each circle with yarn.  The students will also measure the distance across each circle.  They will record their results on Illuminations Apple Pi worksheet http://illuminations.nctm.org/Lessons/ApplePi/ApplePi-AS-Record.pdf. The students will divide the circumference by the diameter to find the ratio of circumference to the diameter of a circle.  The students will be able to see that the circumference is a little over three times bigger than the diameter.  The value of PI will be introduced at this time- 3.14.  The teacher will read the book Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi  to the students to help reinforce the value of PI.  The students will discuss the meaning of the poem “The Circle’s Measure” found in the story. The teacher will then introduce the students to the formula for circumference.  The students will practice using the formula to find the circumference of various circles provided by the teacher. The teacher will ask the students what they would need to calculate if they want to find the amount of surface covered by a circle (area).  The teacher will introduce the students to the formula for area of a circle.  She will remind the students that area is always in square units.  The students will practice finding the area of various circles. 

The Circle's Measure

Measure the middle circle around,

Divide so a number can be found.

Every circle, great and small-

The number is the same for all.

It's also the dose, so be clever.

Or a dragon he will stay...

                                               forever...                                                

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The students will revisit the original problem of putting a fence around a circular pool.  The students will use the knowledge they have gained from this lesson to calculate the fencing needed for a pool with a diameter of 15 feet.  They will also need to calculate the area of the pool to determine what size solar cover they would need to purchase for the pool.

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Cooperative learning and calculators will be used to assist the students with this lesson.  Based on formative assessment information, the teacher will adjust instructional practices and provide remediation and reteaching as necessary.  By design, this lesson incorporates and addresses numerous learning stules via poems, stories, tactile, kinesthetic, visual, auditory, and real world application scenarios.  These different methodologies allow for differentiateion to meet student needs.  Additionally, the following website may be used to provide extra practice or enrichment as needed:  http://www.pdesas/module/content/resources/3165/view/ashx

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As a summative assessment, each child will be given an individual worksheet on circumference and area of circles. Circumference and Area of Circles.doc The students will independently calculate the circumference/area of each circle.  The teacher will monitor and re-teach as necessary.