The purpose of this activity is for students to draw circles and rectangles and partition them into two or four equal pieces. Students make these drawings as a way to represent real-world objects that might be in a park. In the Activity Synthesis, students analyze different drawings and see that shapes can be partitioned into halves and fourths in different ways. When students model a situation, using a representation such as a drawing, they model with mathematics (MP4).

• Display the previously identified drawings.
• “How are these drawings the same? How are they different?” (Both show 4 lanes in the pool, but one drawing shows them the long way and the other drawing shows them the short way. One playground is shaped like a rectangle and the other playground is a circle.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to mathematize their world by looking for shapes in their environment, specifically shapes that are partitioned into halves or fourths. Students may notice other shapes that are partitioned into halves or fourths, or rectangles and circles partitioned into different numbers of pieces. This is exciting for students to notice and can be shared; however, students need to record only the rectangles and circles partitioned into halves and fourths that they find during their hunt. When students model a situation, using a representation such as a drawing of geometric shapes, they model with mathematics (MP4).

This activity suggests walking through the school to notice shapes in different spaces, such as the hallway, cafeteria, library, etc. This activity can also be done outside of the school building or within the classroom. 

• “Let’s share some of the objects we noticed during our walk.”