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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Home renovation: Working with area

In this lesson for grade six, students will work together in cooperative groups using the internet to calculate the cost of finishing a basement.

A lesson plan for grade 6 Mathematics

By Kim Abrams, Mike McDowell, and Barbara Strange

Provided by CareerStart

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CareerStart lessons: Grade six
This collection of lessons aligns the sixth grade curriculum in math, science, English language arts, and social studies with potential career opportunities.
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Related pages

  • General contractors: Working with area: This activity for grade six combines math, art, and writing, as students design a floor plan for a house and use calculations of area to arrive at a cost estimate.
  • Area of solids: Finding area of rectangular solids and cylinders by cutting them into flat pieces and adding the areas.
  • Everyday geometry: Hidden figures and polygons: A lesson plan for grade 5 math in which students use historical photographs and drafting plans to demonstrate their knowledge of mathematical figures and polygons.

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Learning outcomes

  • Students will work together in cooperative groups to calculate the cost of finishing a basement.
  • Students will solve problems involving perimeter and area.
  • Students will understand how math can be applied to careers in home repair and renovation.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

  • Student handouts:
    • Mock floor plan
    • Five different job sheets
    • Team estimation work page
  • Mobile laptop cart or computer lab

Time required for lesson

Approximately 1-2 class periods.

Procedure

  1. Pass out the mock floor plan and calculate the perimeter and total square footage for the basement.
  2. Explain to students that you are hiring a contractor to finish your basement. Part of the contractor’s job is to give estimates to potential customers.
  3. Break students into 2 or 3 big teams. Divide each team into 5 groups. Each group will be responsible for analyzing the cost for their small job.
  4. Hand out job sheets.
  5. Go to a computer lab or use a mobile laptop station so that each small group has at least one computer to use.
  6. Have the students use a trusted hardware store website to check on current local prices for all of the supplies mentioned on the student job sheets.
  7. After each group finishes researching, have the small groups meet with their original teams to add the costs of all five jobs. Have students record the total on the team estimation work page. This number is the contractor’s supply cost. Have students add their labor cost and submit their estimates to the teacher.
  8. Have one person from each team explain their supply cost, labor cost, and total estimate for the job.
  9. As closure, during whole class discussion, brainstorm which careers were represented in the assignment and possible reasons why good math skills are crucial in these jobs.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 6

  • Goal 2: Measurement - The learner will select and use appropriate tools to measure two- and three-dimensional figures.
    • Objective 2.02: Solve problems involving perimeter/circumference and area of plane figures.