Mathematics Grade 4
Strand: GEOMETRY (4.G.) Standard 4.G.1
Mathematics Grade 4
Strand: GEOMETRY (4.G.) Standard 4.G.2
Large Groups
Activities help students identify angles found in the real world and classify and draw them.
Invitation to Learn
Instructional Procedures
Additional Resources
Books
Shapes, Shapes, Shapes, by Tana Hoban; ISBN 0-688-14740-2
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland, by Cindy Neuschwander; ISBN 1-57091-169-X
Students need to have been previously taught that an angle consists of two rays sharing the same endpoint. Angles look different depending on their size. Right angles are most commonly referred to as a square corner because of the 90° angle they make. Angles smaller than a right angle, are referred to as acute and will fit inside any right angle because they measure less than 90°. Angles greater than a right angle are named obtuse. They are bigger than 90°. These angles make up shapes found in the world around us.
4. Communicate mathematical ideas and arguments coherently to peers, teachers, and others using the precise language and notation of mathematics.
5. Connect mathematical ideas within mathematics, to other disciplines, and to everyday experiences.
Invitation to Learn
Students will play the role of a clock. Their arms will create times found throughout the day. First students will make 9:30 using their arms. This time represents a right angle. Next students will elapse time to 10:15. This will represent an angle that is greater than the right angle. Finally students will once again elapse time to make 11:05. This angle is less than a right angle. After students have made all three angles with their arms they will recreate them using 3-6 inch chenille stems. These angles will be taped into their math journals. Students will label each angle.
Instructional Procedures
Curriculum Extensions/Adaptations/ Integration
Family Connections
Research Basis
Milson, J. (1979). "Geometry and the Real World." School Science and Mathematics. 79(8) 695-700.
Students often feel geometry is useless because it is presented abstractly not relating to their own world. Only when teachers apply geometry to other areas do students begin to appreciate it. When students are shown the practical side of geometry as applied to science and geometric forms found around them, they feel this mathematic area is worth learning.
Browning, C. A., Garza-Kling, G., & Sundling, E. H. (2007). "What's Your Angle on Angles?" Teaching Children Mathematics. 14(5) 283-287.
Students need to be given the opportunity to explore the definition of an angle. As students are exposed to angles using different mediums, they will begin to grasp what an angle actually is. Their angle definitions need to be challenged and expanded upon continually. Students need to share their discoveries with others.