Becca Wilson

Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center

5​th​ Grade Math Lesson – Cara Varnell

Patterns in Perimeter and Area Lesson

(adapted from ​Investigations​ 2.1 Unit 8)

Objective: Students will be able to recognize patterns in increasing areas and

perimeters of squares.

Standards: 111.7.b.4.H: represent and solve problems related to perimeter and/or area
and related to volume

Setting: Students in groups of 4-6 will complete this lesson in small group, 20-minute
increments.

Materials: color tiles

Launch - 3 min

● ​ old up color tile and say: Today we are going to be exploring perimeter and
H
area. One side of this tile is 1 square inch.
● Can someone tell me what the perimeter of the square is? (4 inches)
○ What are you measuring when you say 4 inches?
○ In other words, what does perimeter measure? (the distance around the
shape)
● What is the area of the square? (1 square inch)
○ What does area measure? (the space the object covers or the space
inside)
● Now we are going to discover some patterns in perimeter and area as we turn to
page 559 in our Investigations activity books.

Explore - 10 min

● We are going to work together to build squares with larger perimeters and areas.
We will record our findings on the chart on page 559.
● Let’s start by recording our perimeter and area from the 1x1 square we just
examined.
 ● What’s the first step in building our 2x2 square? (making each side 2 square
inches)
○ Now we just have one empty space in the corner that we need to fill.
○ What is the perimeter of this square? The area? Record it in your chart.
● How would we get to a 3x3 square from here? (add one square to each side and
fill in the rest)
○ Do you notice anything about how the perimeter is increasing as we make
our square bigger? (going up by 4 each time)
○ Keep looking for these patterns as we work through the chart.
● Will someone volunteer to build the 4x4 square for us?
○ Will a different volunteer tell me the perimeter and area of this square?
● Does anyone think they can tell me the perimeter and area of the 5x5 square
without building it?
○ Perimeter - 20 inches (increase by 4 from the previous, 4x5)
○ Area - 25 square inches (5x5, increased by an odd number every time in
area - 3,5,7,9, etc.)
● If most students get it - have them fill in the chart without building 6x6 and 7x7
○ If not, have volunteers build the next two.

Summarize - 7 min

● I noticed you all making some very good observations about perimeter and area
as we were building our squares. Can anyone share a pattern they noticed?
○ Perimeter goes up by 4 each time. Why do you think this is true?
■ Use rules of quadrilaterals - squares have 4 equal sides
■ Each side adds 1, 1x4=4
○ Area goes up by an odd number each time.
○ Area is the (side)x(side). Why would this be true?
■ The formula for area is bxh, and in this case the base and the
height are the same number.
■ Does anyone know what this is called? (squaring)
● Begin to think about why perimeter and area change the ways you discovered
today.
● Do you think all squares would change in this way? What about all
quadrilaterals?
Ongoing Assessment during “Explore”:
● How are students determining the perimeter of the squares?
○ Side+side+side+side
○ (side+side)x2
○ Side x 4
● How are they determining the area of the squares?
○ Counting each square
○ Multiplying dimensions
○ Actually “squaring” one side
● Do they notice patterns in the ways the numbers increase?
○ Need manipulative vs. understand numerically
● Are they connecting and making sense of their numerical patterns in regards to
the characteristics of the shape?
○ 4 equal sides means perimeter increases by 4
○ Multiplying dimensions is squaring
● Do they write “square inch”?