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Lesson Plan

Illustrating Areas in Fractional Units

In this lesson, your students will calculate and illustrate area for rectangles using area models, where one side length includes a fraction.
Grade:
Fifth Grade
View aligned standards
5.NF.B.4.b

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to illustrate area for rectangular shapes with side lengths that include fractions.

Introduction

(5 minutes)
  • Review area (the amount of space within a given border) and it’s formula (A = l x w) with your students.
  • Think aloud calculations for a rectangular shape with whole number length and width (like 4 units by 6 units = 24 units squared).
  • Illustrate the area with a 4 by 6 array to your students, but note something interesting happens when you calculate area for a rectangle with fractional length and width (like 2¾ units by 6 units).
  • Have your class turn and tell a neighbor what they think happens to the area when one side length includes a fraction. Allow several students to share their ideas with the whole class.
  • Explain today’s lesson objective is to illustrate area easily when fractions are included in a side length. Using area models makes finding areas fun and easy to see!