The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
Measure the Room
Measure the Room
A 5th grade STEM lesson
Shauna Hamman
April 9, 2023
Notes for teachers
List of Materials
Optional: printed set of blueprints or room plans
Measure the Room Project worksheet
A variety of measuring tools, such as
For greatest accuracy, it would be good to have a laser measuring tool (for teacher’s use only).
This lesson includes the use of a room planning tool to render the students’ measurements in 2D and/or 3D and include a design aspect to the lesson. Any room planner could be used, but this lesson was tested using Planner 5D, which currently offers free accounts for schools:
https://planner5d.com/education
Standards
Mathematics Standards
5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system, and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real-world problems.
5.NF.B.4.c Find the area of a rectangle with fractional side lengths by tiling it with unit squares of the appropriate unit fraction side lengths, and show that the area is the same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths. Multiply fractional side lengths to find areas of rectangles, and represent fraction products as rectangular areas.
5.MD.C.5.b Understand and use the formulas V = l x w x h and V = B x h, where in this case B is the area of the base (B = l x w), for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole-number edge lengths to solve mathematical problems and problems in real-world contexts.
5.MD.C.5.c Understand volume as additive. Find volumes of solid figures composed of two non-overlapping right rectangular prisms, applying this technique to solve mathematical problems and problems in real-world contexts.
Standards
Standards for Mathematical Practice
MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
MP.6 Attend to precision.
Educational Technology Standards
3-5.1.d Students explore age-appropriate technologies and begin to transfer their learning to different tools or learning environments.
3-5.4.b Students, in collaboration with an educator, use digital and/or non-digital tools to plan and manage a design process.
Objectives:
We will use a variety of measurement tools to draw an accurate floor plan for our classroom.
We will calculate the perimeter, area, volume and surface area of our classroom.
We will use our measurement data to create an accurate digital model of our classroom.
Agenda
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 1-Introduction
Show students a set of blueprints or a printed 2D floor plan. If paper copies are not available, show a floor plan online and project it on the screen.
Discuss:
What information does this plan show?
Where can you see the measurements on the plan?
Why is it important that the measurements be accurate?
Driving Question: How can we make sure measurements are accurate?
Day 1-Measure the Room (Hands-On Activity)
Before starting to measure, discuss the general shape of the room. Is it a rectangle or is it made up of different composite shapes? Are all the walls right angles or are there there other angles you would need to measure? (Suggestions: draw a rough sketch of the room on the board as a guide for students; discuss how to measure any non-rectangular areas as a class before starting.)
Put students into pairs and project the Measure the Room Instruction Slide (see the next slide). As they work, they should be drawing a rough scale model of the room and labeling the measurements.
Encourage students to try different strategies and tools for measurement. Ideally they should measure each wall twice, using different tools, and compare their measurements.
Measure the Room!
Day 2-Check for Accuracy
After students have completed their initial measurements, have them compare with others and discuss as a class. Then the teacher will give the actual measurements; if practical, the teacher could measure the room in front of the students using a laser measuring tool.
Discuss: if your measurements were accurate or close to accurate, what strategies or tools did you use? Why did we not all get the same measurements? Discuss benefits of different measuring tools.
Give students the Measure the Room Project worksheet.
Suggestion: discuss and decide on a standard form for the class to use when recording the accurate wall lengths. For example, 23 feet 5 inches should be written as 23 5/12 feet.
Day 2-Draw and Calculate
Using the accurate measurements, students will complete the Measure the Room Project worksheet. They will draw a diagram of the room and calculate the perimeter, area, volume and surface area of the room.
Notes:
Day 3-Design Challenge
Option 1: Students will use an online room planning tool such as https://planner5d.com/ to input the dimensions of the room and create a 2D and/or 3D model. Use design tools to add colors, furniture, accessories, etc. to create the ideal classroom.
Set criteria by brainstorming as a class (for example, it must have seating for _____ people).
If individual students are unable to use the planning tool, the teacher create the model using the planner and projector, using suggestions from students to add details.
Option 2:
Students could add drawings to the paper scale model they created, again using a set of agreed-upon criteria, to create the ideal classroom.
With either option, students should have an opportunity to share their designs with classmates and get feedback.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on the precision of their scale model and the accuracy of their calculations.
Assessment of the design challenge will be based on precision and adherence to the design criteria. In addition, students will write a reflection describing their process and the challenges they faced while completing the project.
Differentiation
The measurement task could be scaffolded for students who need additional support. They could round measurements to the nearest whole number instead of using fractions or decimals. They could be paired with a supportive classmate or an adult.
Remediation
Extension/Enrichment