Our geometric world

The students will use newspaper and magazine pictures to recognize geometric figures within the real world. They will make a collage of pictures showing various geometric shapes. They will write a summary of the shapes that are represented in their collage.

A lesson plan for grade 3 Mathematics

By Robin Ward

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Related topics

• Learn more about geometry, hands-on, mathematics, and shapes.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• be able to identify properties of polygons with the use of pictures from newspapers, magazines, and, if access is available, pictures from the internet
• identify line segments, angles, solid geometric figures, and plane surfaces in real world objects
• learn to write a summary of their work

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

• newspapers
• magazines
• scissors
• paste
• poster board or construction paper
• notebook paper and pencil
• crayons (optional)

Technology resources

• computer with access to the internet (optional)
• word processing program (optional)
• HyperStudio 3.1 version

Pre-activities

• Using the overhead projector, review polygons including quadrilaterals, squares, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, hexagons, and octagons and discuss the qualities of each.
• Students complete the Hanging Polygons activity.
• Allow the students to make solid figures such as a cubes, rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, etc. using patterns of the two-dimensional figures in the attachment For example, six square patterns taped together would make a cube.
• As a homework assignment, the day before this lesson have students bring in newspaper and/or magazine pictures they believe include polygons and solid geometric figures.

Activities

1. Introduce the lesson with the Hyperstudio presentation “Geometry In Our World” using classroom TV and computer hookup (if this is not available skip this step).
2. Give each student a newspaper, construction paper/poster board, scissors, and glue. Adding to the collection from their homework assignment, have the children continue searching for polygons and geometric figures until they have a sufficient supply to completely cover the entire surface of their paper.
3. Next, have the students glue their pictures on the paper to make a collage.
4. Students can carefully add color to their collages by lightly coloring the newspaper pictures they have included.
5. Finally, tell the students to write a summary of the collage describing the kinds of geometric figures it includes. The summary should be at least two paragraphs long and include only the most important information about their collage.
6. Post the students’ final products on a bulletin board or hallway wall for all to admire.
7. For homework, students complete the Discovering Polygons activity sheet.

Assessment

• Evaluation of student summary and collage
• Activity sheet: Discovering Polygons

Supplemental information

Comments

This curriculum resource was created in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Mathematics and Science Education in June of 1998.
Hands on Math pages 35 & 36 reprinted with the permission of Instructional Fair * TS Denison. “If you’d like to know more about our products, please call 1-800-443-2976 and ask for a catalog!”