few_shots: 
Example:
Problem/activity:
Narrative
The purpose of this activity is for students to create composite shapes and compose new shapes from composite shapes. For example, students may find that a rectangular prism can be made from four triangular prisms or from eight smaller cubes. Students then discover that they can combine two of the composed rectangular prisms to make a new rectangular prism.
Required Materials
Materials to Gather
Geoblocks
Launch
Groups of 4
Give each group geoblocks.
Display a large cube.
“This cube can be built from other shapes. See how many ways you can build a cube using other shapes.”
3 minutes: partner work time
Share responses.
Activity
“Choose a different shape. Try to find smaller shapes you can use to build that shape.”
5 minutes: partner work time
Student Response
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click here to register or sign in
for free access to Student Response.
Activity Synthesis
Display a cube and a composite cube—for example, a cube composed of four small cubes and one rectangular prism.
Demonstrate putting the shapes together.
“What new shape did I make with the cube and the cube I made?”
“Put your shapes together to make a rectangular prism.”
Display a rectangular prism and two triangular prisms.
“Find these shapes. Put them together. What new shape can you make?” (a cube, a rectangular block)


Concept/skill: 
Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape. (Students do not need to learn formal names such as “right rectangular prism.”)

Answer: 
Yes. This activity asks students to compose three-dimensional shapes, using geoblocks, to create composite shapes.

Now, does the problem or activity shown below enable students to learn the full intent of the following concept or skill?

shot_info: im_lesson_009431_pos_0

1
standard_description: Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to equations of the form x^(2) = p and x^(3) = p, where p is a positive rational number. Evaluate square roots of small perfect squares and cube roots of small perfect cubes. Know that Ö2 is irrational.
problem_activity: Activity
In this activity, students determine the length of a “diagonal” line segment on a grid. Students can give an exact value for the length of the line segment by finding the area of a square and writing the side length using square root notation. The goal of this activity is for students to connect values expressed using square roots with values expressed in decimal form—a form they are more familiar with.
Monitor for students who draw a tilted square for the first problem during the first two minutes of work time. Then monitor for students who use the following strategies to find the length of the segment:
drawing a square and finding the area
using tracing paper
using a compass to make a circle
Launch
For this activity, it is best if students do not have access to a calculator with a square root button. If student calculators do have a square root button that students are familiar with, tell students that their explanations about their answers to the second problem need to dig deeper than pressing a button. In later lessons, however, they will be able to use it.
Before students begin, remind students that “exact length” means it can’t just be an approximation, so if it is not a rational number, we should write it with square root notation. For example, a square with area 17 has a side length of exactly
\(\sqrt{17}\)
, which is a little larger than 4, since
\(4^2=16\)
.
Begin by displaying the diagram for all to see. Ask students how this diagram is similar and how it is different from the diagram in the warm-up. Then 2–3 minutes after students begin working, pause the class and select a previously identified student who drew a square on the grid to share what they did and why. Give 2–3 minutes work time to finish the problems followed by a whole-class discussion.
Representation: Internalize Comprehension.
Activate or supply background knowledge. Provide students with access to tracing paper, straight edges, and compasses to support information processing in estimating the length of the line segment.
Supports accessibility for: Visual-spatial processing; Organization
Student Facing
[IMG]
Estimate the length of the line segment to the nearest tenth of a unit (each grid square is 1 square unit).
Find the exact length of the segment.
Student Response
Teachers with a valid work email address can
click here to register or sign in
for free access to Student Response.
Activity Synthesis
Select students to present in this sequence:
Someone who drew a square and used the area to find the exact side length.
Someone who used tracing paper. This is essentially like the number line as a ruler. Ask students what this tells us about the exact value we found with the square. (
\(\sqrt{10}\)
is about 3.1.)
Someone who used a compass to find the approximate side length. This is a more formal geometric construction, but it is just another way to use the number line as a ruler.
Speaking, Listening: MLR8 Discussion Supports.
As students share their methods for finding the exact length of the line segment, press for details in students’ reasoning by asking how they know the figure they drew in the coordinate plane is a square. Listen for and amplify the language students use to describe the important features of the square (e.g., opposite sides are equal, opposite sides are parallel, each angle is
\(90^\circ\)
). Then ask students to explain why the side length of the tilted square must be
\(\sqrt{10}\)
. This will support rich and inclusive discussion about strategies for finding the exact length of a line segment in the coordinate plane.
Design Principle(s): Support sense-making


aligns: yes