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Students Design a Floorplan for a Tiny House Using Area and Perimeter
Learn about tiny houses, think like an architect to design the perfect floor plan, use measurement and conversion skills to design furniture to scale, use formulas to compute area and perimeter, and synthesize that knowledge by designing and creating a professional floor plan for a tiny house!
Your students will think like architects and builders in this project-based learning unit for grades 5-7 math. They'll learn all about tiny houses, use measurement and conversion formulas to compute area and perimeter, plan and problem-solve for tricky layout and building issues, and then design and create a professional floor plan for a tiny house, including scaled furniture.
What's Inside
Packed with hands-on inquiry-based activities, extensions and enhancements, cross-curricular independent and group work, and engaging and interactive challenges, this 48-page project-based unit comes complete with:
- For the Teacher: A complete Perimeter and Area Lesson Plan with step-by-step instructions for all activities, teaching tips, assessment guidance, and inquiry questions.
- For Students: A full-color Student Pack complete with all of the printables, slides, photos, and instructions students need for the research, experiments and activities - just print (or share) and teach!
A complete, ready-to-teach Teacher Pack that includes:
- Teacher versions of all the student printables with step-by-step annotations and notes for teaching perimeter and area, scale measurements, and floorplan layout;
- Formative and summative assessments, answer keys, and a full project rubric;
- Instructions and guidance for the extension activities and project enhancements;
- Materials and resources lists, links to articles, videos, and research, plus additional resources for lecture and presentation.
What's Included
Lesson Plan - Step-by-Step Project Guide
- Milestone 1: Tiny House Planning
- Milestone 2: Creating a Floor Plan
- Milestone 3: Creating Furniture to Scale
- Milestone 4: Finding Perimeter and Area
- Milestone 5: Creating a Professional Floor Plan
Teacher and Student Resources
- Materials List for the Projects in this Unit
- Books About Perimeter, Area, and Tiny Houses (optional)
- Tour of a Tiny House Video Activity Reflection Prompt
- Tiny House Project Overview and Instructions
- Patterns in Geometry Activity and Answer Key
- Planning a Tiny House Floorplan Design Activity
- Milestone #1 Inquiry Question Writing Prompt
- Floorplan Sketch Requirements Handout
- Milestone #2 Inquiry Question Writing Prompt
- Sample Tiny House Floorplan Handout
- Living in a Tiny House Reflective Writing Activity
- Converting Lengths Activity and Answer Key
- Milestone #3 Inquiry Question Writing Prompt
- Perimeter and Area Quick Quiz and Answer Key
- Measuring Furnishings to Scale Handout
- Tiny House Challenge Activity and Answer Key
- Perimeter and Area of a Tiny House Calculation Sheet
- Milestone #4 Inquiry Question Writing Prompt
- Choosing a Tiny House Activity
- Professional Floorplan Requirements Handout
- Milestone #5 Inquiry Question Writing Prompt
- Perimeter and Area Summative Assessment and Answer Key
- Perimeter and Area Project Rubric
OVERVIEW:
This project-based learning lesson is designed to support and reinforce the concepts taught as part of a math lesson or unit on perimeter and area, measurement and conversion, and scale. It is built around 5 inquiry-based milestones that incorporate cross-curricular hands-on projects, formative and summative assessments, independent and group activities, and extensions.
STUDENT/GROUP OUTPUT:
In the course of this project-based learning unit, students will:
- Build background knowledge about tiny houses by researching and studying them in detail;
- Explore the house design and building process by learning about floor plans and modeling measurements to scale;
- Use specific formulas to compute area and perimeter for their house designs;
- Learn how to apply measurement and conversion skills to design properly-scaled furnishings;
- "Show what they know" by designing and creating a professional floorplan for a tiny house and scale furniture.
SUGGESTED SUBJECT PREREQUISITES:
Students will acquire necessary background knowledge of area and perimeter and measurement and conversion as part of this project, and instructional materials for providing that background are included in the Teacher Pack.
SEQUENCE AND PACING
This project-based unit is divided into 5 milestones. The minimum suggested duration for completing this project-based unit is 5 class periods. However, the unit is completely flexible can be lengthened or shortened as necessary or desired, based on available class time and interest level.
TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES (suggested):
- Internet access
STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
These activities support the following CCSS curriculum standards:
- CCSS. Math.Content.6.G.A1: Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area, and volume
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.A1 & A2: Draw construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.G.B6: Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume
