Area

Lesson 14

Math

Unit 4

3rd Grade

Lesson 14 of 14

Objective


Recognize area as additive. Find the area of a complex composite figure.

Common Core Standards


Core Standards

  • 3.MD.C.7.D — Recognize area as additive. Find areas of rectilinear figures by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the areas of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems.

Criteria for Success


  1. Find the area of a composite figure that must be decomposed into three or more rectangles with some missing side lengths by breaking it into as many rectangles as needed, finding any missing side lengths, finding the area of each rectangle given their respective side lengths, and adding those areas together (MP.5).
  2. Find the area of a composite figure by enclosing the shape in a larger rectangle and subtracting the area of any parts of the larger rectangle that are not part of the original composite figure (optional). 

Tips for Teachers


The lesson includes composite figures that are more complex than previous days, such as composite figures that must be decomposed into more than two rectangles or composite figures whose easiest strategy to find the area of is using a subtractive rather than additive strategy (such as Anchor Task #2). Every problem will provide enough information for either an additive or subtractive strategy to be used to solve, though, so that students aren’t expected to show success with the subtractive strategy. 

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Anchor Tasks

25-30 minutes


Problem 1

Veronica is making a poster for science class.

What is the total area, in square feet, of the poster?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 2

Setsuko is redoing a room and wants to put wallpaper on a wall that has a window. The wall with the window, shaded, are shown in the diagram below.

How many square feet of wallpaper will Setsuko use on the wall?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem Set

15-20 minutes


Discussion of Problem Set

  • How many different ways did you find to determine the area of the figure in #2? What did your expression look like for each way of determining the area? 
  • Which design do you recommend Jessica gets for her garden? What about her patio? Why?

Target Task

5-10 minutes


Mrs. Allen wants to cover one wall in her office with butcher block paper for students to draw on. There is a door on the wall, which she won’t cover with butcher block paper. Here is a picture of Mrs. Allen’s wall:

How many square feet of butcher block paper will Mrs. Allen need? Show or explain your work.

Student Response

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Additional Practice


The Extra Practice Problems can be used as additional practice for homework, during an intervention block, etc. Daily Word Problems and Fluency Activities are aligned to the content of the unit but not necessarily to the lesson objective, therefore feel free to use them anytime during your school day.

Word Problems and Fluency Activities

Word Problems and Fluency Activities

Help students strengthen their application and fluency skills with daily word problem practice and content-aligned fluency activities.

Lesson Map

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Topic A: Understanding Concepts of Area

Topic B: The Distributive Property and Composite Area

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