Sir Circumference and the First Round Table, by Cindy Neuschwander

Mathematical Strand:

Geometry

Topic:

Students will experiment with rearranging shapes to better visualize the Congruence and relationship of geometric shapes.

Grade level:

6-8

Lesson Created by:

Kathy Buyle, Susan B. Anthony Middle School, Manhattan, KS

Lesson Description:

Materials – Book: Sir Circumference, rulers, paper, pencils, scissors

1. Launching the lesson (engage):

1. Read the story.
   
2. Go back through the story and discuss the vocabulary pointing out the use of geometric terms.
   
3. Discuss the progression of the logic that was used to create the round table in the end.
   

2. Developing the lesson

1. Introduce each shape of the table as it appears in the story, starting with the rectangle. As the shape is introduced, the students will draw that shape to a predetermined scale on their papers and cut it out.
   
2. Next, create the square table using the rectangle piece.
   
3. Next, create the parallelogram by cutting and rearranging the pieces. At this point a discussion of parallelograms could be done.
   
4. The next shape to create is a triangular table, which didn’t work so the octagonal table will be created.
   
5. The oval table will need to be cut from another piece of paper using the octagon as a guide for length of the oval.
   
6. Finally, a circular table seems to be the solution. Students cut out a circle using a compass or a circular shape.
   

1. Closure/Discussion/Elaboration

1. Using the circle that the students have created, discuss the characteristics of a circle: diameter, radius, and circumference.
   
2. The students will measure their circles to determine the diameter, radius and circumference.
   Use the circle to actually measure the circumference by rolling it along a ruler and then discuss the idea of pi.