PBL: Perimeter, Area, and Volume with Legos

The set of activities I combined to create my lesson on using Lego bricks to model perimeter, area, and volume are an amalgamation of three lessons I found on the internet.

The first lesson I found came from "Teaching in Room 6" and was called:  Legos + Volume = Awesome!

The second lesson came from a blog titled "The Reflective Educator" and was called:  Lego and Minecraft in Math.

However, it was the final blog that I found while attending TCEA that helped me design a PBL lesson that combined my TEKS with the use of Lego bricks.  The blog is titled "David Lee:  EdTech.org" and the lesson was called:  Minecraft in Education.  

Using these three blogs/lessons, I was able to create a blended learning lesson that I created using Blendspace (www.tes.com).

https://www.tes.com/lessons/HySbfsd-nKwTKQ/mr-python-s-home

Today, we focused on the first 4 boxes of the blendspace activity.  Using the information provided, my students found the basic footprint for the home they were to design.  By the end of class they had:

1. Labeled the x- and y-axis of their grid paper.
2. Numbered their grids.
3. Created a scale explaining that 1 square was equivalent to 1 square meter.
4. They used calculators to find an area for their footprint between 150-250 meters squared.
5. Drawn the perimeter of the "home".
6. Labeled the dimensions.
7. Found and labeled the area.

We did finish off our day with a Countdown to STAAR.