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
Teachers with a valid work email address can
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: 
Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.

Answer: 
No. This activity does not teach students area as an attribute of plane figures. Instead, the activity focuses on solid, three-dimensional figures.

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_neg_0

1
standard_description: Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.
problem_activity: Narrative
The purpose of this activity is for students to notice structure in a series of diagrams and the expressions that represent them. They investigate how these expressions vary as the number of rows and columns in the diagram change. Students see how the diagram represents the multiplication expression and also how the diagram helps to find the value of the expression (MP7). Through repeated reasoning they also begin to see how to find the value of a product of any two unit fractions (MP8).
Launch
Groups of 2
Display the images from the task.
“What is different about these diagrams?” (The number of rows increases by 1. The blue shaded piece gets smaller.)
“What is the same?” (The size of the big square. There are always 4 columns. Only one piece is shaded.)
1 minute: quiet think time
Share and record responses.
Activity
1–2 minutes: independent work time to complete the first problem
1–2 minutes: partner discussion
“Now, complete the rest of the problems with your partner.”
5 minutes: partner work time
Monitor for students who:
choose different diagrams to represent with multiplication expressions
represent the same diagram with different multiplication expression, for example,
\(\frac{1}{2}\times\frac{1}{4}\)
and
\(\frac{1}{4}\times\frac{1}{2}\)
Student Facing
A
[IMG]
B
[IMG]
C
[IMG]
D
[IMG]
Choose one of the diagrams and write a multiplication expression to represent the shaded region. How much of the whole square is shaded? Explain or show your thinking.
If the pattern continues, draw what you think the next diagram will look like. Be prepared to explain your thinking.
[IMG]
Student Response
Teachers with a valid work email address can
click here to register or sign in
for free access to Student Response.
Advancing Student Thinking
If students do not write correct expressions to represent the diagrams, write the correct expressions and ask, “How do the expressions represent the area of the shaded piece of the diagram?”
Activity Synthesis
Display the diagrams from the student workbook.
Select previously identified students to share.
As students explain where they see the multiplication expression in each diagram, record the expressions under the diagram for all to see.
Refer to the diagram that shows
\(\frac{1}{2}\times\frac{1}{4}\)
or
\(\frac{1}{4}\times\frac {1}{2}\)
.
Display both expressions.
“How does this diagram represent both of these expressions?” (It shows one half of one fourth shaded in and it also shows one fourth of one half shaded in.)
Represent student explanation on the diagrams.
“Why is the area of the shaded region getting smaller in each diagram?” (Because we are shading a smaller piece of
\(\frac{1}{4}\)
each time.)
Display:
\(\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{1}{4}= \frac{1}{2\times 4}=\frac{1}{8}\)
\(\frac{1}{3} \times \frac{1}{4}= \frac{1}{3\times 4}=\frac{1}{12}\)
\(\frac{1}{4} \times \frac{1}{4}= \frac{1}{4\times 4}=\frac{1}{16}\)
\(\frac{1}{5} \times \frac{1}{4}= \frac{1}{5\times 4}=\frac{1}{20}\)
“These equations represent the diagrams. What patterns do you notice?” (They all have
\(\frac {1}{4}\)
in them. The denominators in the first fractions go 2, 3, 4, 5. The denominators in the middle fractions are multiplication expressions, the denominators in the middle are all multiplied by 4, the denominator in the fraction that shows the value of the shaded piece goes up by 4 each time.)
“How do the diagrams represent
\(\frac{1}{2\times 4}\)
,
\(\frac{1}{3\times4}\)
,
\(\frac{1}{4\times4}\)
,
\(\frac{1}{5\times4}\)
?” (The numerator tells us that there is 1 piece shaded and the denominator tells us the size of the piece. The denominator also tells us the rows and columns that the whole is divided into.)


aligns: no