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Activity 1

Standards Alignment

Building On

Addressing

Building Toward

Instructional Routines

Estimation Exploration

Materials

None

Activity Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to estimate a reasonable answer based on the experience they have had with area. The activity also familiarizes students with chicken coops which will be helpful in the next activity when they plan an area in which to keep chickens. When students make an estimate or range of reasonable answers with incomplete information, they model with mathematics (MP4).

Launch

Groups of 2
Display image.
“This is a chicken coop. A chicken coop is a small building for chickens where they roost (or rest) at night.”
“What is an estimate that’s too high?” “Too low?” “About right?”
1 minute: quiet think time

Activity

“Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
1 minute: partner discussion
Record responses.

How much area does the chicken coop take up in the yard?

Record an estimate that is:

too low	reasonable	too high

Student Response

to access Student Response.

Advancing Student Thinking

Activity Synthesis

Consider asking:
- “Is anyone’s estimate less than ___? Is anyone’s estimate greater than ___?”
- “Based on this discussion does anyone want to revise their estimate?”
Reveal the side lengths of the area taken up by the coop are 3 feet and 6 feet.
If time, invite students to find the area and the perimeter of the chicken coop.

Activity 2

Standards Alignment

Building On

Addressing

Building Toward

Instructional Routines

None

Materials

To Gather

Grid paper Tools for creating a display

Activity Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to solve a problem that involves area and perimeter of rectangles. Students use given information to decide how many chickens can be kept in an area with given constraints. The information is given as a combination of area measurements and measurements of length.

In this activity, students have opportunities to make decisions about information that isn’t given in the task. For instance, when designing the fenced area for the chickens, students can place the chicken coop in the fenced area or have the chicken coop outside, but it must be connected to the fenced area. Students can also choose to include the maximum number of chickens or reduce the number slightly to make sure they have enough space. When students make assumptions about information not given in a situation, model the situation with a representation such as a drawing or equation, and report on their conclusions and reasoning, they model with mathematics (MP4).

Launch

Groups of 2 or 4
Give each group tools for creating a visual display.
Give students access to grid paper.
“Maya is trying to figure out how many chickens she can keep in an area she’s designing for her chickens. Take a couple minutes to think about how you could use the information to help her decide how many chickens to get.”
1–2 minutes: quiet think time
1 minute: small-group discussion

Activity

“Work with your group to decide how many chickens Maya should get. Then create a poster to show how you chose the number of chickens.”
10–15 minutes: small-group work time
Monitor for students who:
- Place the chicken coop inside the fenced in area, resulting in less fenced space for the chickens.
- Place the chicken coop outside the fenced area, but connected to the fenced area, resulting in more fenced space for the chickens.
- Don’t go with the maximum number of chickens to ensure they have enough space.

Maya wants to get some chickens and keep them in a rectangular area in her yard. Use the information below to help Maya decide how many chickens to get.

Maya has a coop that will fit up to 10 chickens.
The coop takes up 24 square feet of space.
Each chicken needs 8–10 square feet of space in the yard, outside the coop.
Maya wants to fence in the area for the chickens. She has 2 rolls of fencing, and each roll has 15 feet of fencing.

Create a poster to show your thinking. Organize your work so it can be followed by others.

Student Response

to access Student Response.

Advancing Student Thinking

If students share they are unsure how to make decisions about unknown information, consider asking:

“Tell me about how you’ve designed the fenced area for the chickens so far.”
“What are some choices you have about ____? How would it affect the fenced areas for the chickens if you ____?”

Activity Synthesis

Invite previously selected students to display their posters for all to see.
Invite 2–3 groups to share how they decided on how many chickens Maya should get.

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Settings

Language

Audience

Assessment Access

Lesson 15

A Space for Chickens (Optional)

Warm-up

Instructional Routines

Materials

Activity Narrative

Launch

Activity

Student Response

Advancing Student Thinking

Activity Synthesis

Activity 1

Standards Alignment

Building On

Addressing

3.MD.C.5

Building Toward

Instructional Routines

Materials

Activity Narrative

Launch

Activity

Student Response

Advancing Student Thinking

Activity Synthesis

Activity 2

Standards Alignment

Building On

Addressing

3.MD.D.8

3.OA.D.8

Building Toward

Instructional Routines

Materials

To Gather

Activity Narrative

Launch

Activity

Student Response

Advancing Student Thinking

Activity Synthesis

Lesson Synthesis

Standards Alignment

Building On

Addressing

Building Toward

3.MD.C.5

3.MD.D.8