I used this lesson in my grade 4 classroom. It is adapted from a LogoPaths lesson. I wanted my students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of permitter then they often show by plugging in a simple perimeter formula.
In this lesson students:
- Are given the code to create various shapes in Scratch.
- They copy that code in.
- They look at the code to figure out the length of each side.
- They add up the lengths of the sides that they need to figure out the missing measurement.
- They add in the missing code and see if they can make a complete shape
- Show their thinking and reflect on what they learned
- Extensions:
- complete given shapes that don’t have any code given
- Write your own missing measure questions
By giving the students some but not all of the measurements in a shape they are forced to visualize the shape and think about what those measurements actually mean. By using a variety of irregular shapes they are forced to think beyond traditional algorithms.
This lesson is greatly enhanced by using coding because the students get immediate feedback on if their answer is correct. They will notice right away if they have calculated correctly because their shape will “look right” if not they can go back and adjust their calculations.
Example Project