1. My Square Meter Investigation
The Task:
I was asked to make a square that has an area of one square meter
and a perimeter of 400cm by using tape, scissors and newspaper.
Then, I needed to change the perimeter of the shape, but keep the
area the same. This is called conservation of area.
It was a fun investigation because I could choose the shape to be
changed. It was challenging for me because it was hard to make the
shape accurately to be exactly 1square meter.
Original Shape:
The dimensions of my shape were 1m x 1m,
or 100cm by 100cm. This shape was a
square and it had an area of 1m2 or
10,000cm2. It had a perimeter of 400cm or
4m.
New Shape:
My new shape was an octagon and the area
of my new shape was still 1m2 or
10,000cm2. I know this because I didn’t lose
any area of my shape and I was very careful
with the newspaper.The perimeter of my
new shape isgreater than the original. It is
1595cm or 15.95m. I worked this out by
measuring all the sides and adding them
together.I think the new perimeter is
greater because the shape is much longer
and narrower than before.
Reflection:
During this investigation, I learned that
how to measure area of shapes. It helped
me to see and understand square meters
and square centimeters. I enjoyed making
my long octagon. I still have questions
about how I could measure the area of a
semicircle. Next, I would like to investigate
3D shapes.