The student was asked to create a square meter out of newspaper and then change the perimeter while keeping the area the same. This demonstrated the concept of conservation of area. The original shape was a 1m by 1m square with an area of 10m2 and perimeter of 4m. The new shape was a triangle with the same area of 10m2 but a greater perimeter of 4.87m, showing that changing the shape can increase perimeter while keeping area the same. The student enjoyed learning about conservation and geometry through this hands-on investigation.

1. My Square Meter Investigation
The Task:
I was asked to make a square meter with newspaper, ruler and tape.
Then, I needed to change the perimeter of the shape, but keep the
area the same. This is calledconservation of area.
It was a fun investigation because we were able to create our own
shape with color.It was challenging for me because we needed to
figure out why our new shape’s perimeter was bigger than the
original, but the area was not.
Original Shape:
The dimensions of my shape were 1
m x 1m, or 100cm by 100cm. This
shape was a square. It had an area of
10m2 or 10,000cm2. It had a
perimeter of 400cm or 4m.
New Shape:
My new shape was a triangle.
The area of my new shape was
still 1m2 or 10,000cm2. I know
this because I didn’t lose any
area (of the newspaper).The
perimeter of my new shape
isgreater than the original. It is
487cm or 4.87m. I worked this
out by measuring all sides and
adding them together. I think the
new perimeter is greater
because our shape has greater
side length. Each of our new
sides is longer, even though it is
a triangle and has only 3 sides in total.
Reflection:
During this investigation, I learned that if you don’t losesomething
(like area or length) it is called conservation. It made me think about
when we were learning about geometry (in our angles unit). I
enjoyed making the shapes. I would like to investigate 3D shapes
next.