Students will focus on developing their ability to think spatially. Many times, students may feel that concepts of area and volume are of little use in their everyday lives compared with their computation skills. Encourage you child to become more aware of the importance and relevance of 2- and 3- dimensional shapes. point out geometric solids (such as pyramids, cones, and cylinders) as well as 2-dimensional shapes (such as squares, circles, and triangles) in your surroundings.

     Volume ( or capacity) is the measure of the amount of space inside a 3-dimensional geometric figure. your child will develop formulas to calculate the volume of rectangular and curved solids in cubic units. The class will also review units of capacity, such as cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. They will use units of capacity to estimate the volume of irregular objects by measuring the amount of water each object displaces when submerged. Your child will also explore the relationship between weight and volume by calculating the weight of rice an "average" Thai family of our consumes in one year and estimating how many cartons of a certain size would be needed to store a year's supply.

     Area is defined as the number of units (usually squares) that can fit onto a bounded surface, without gaps or overlaps. Your child will review formulas for finding the area of rectangles, parallelograms, triangles, and circles and use these formulas in calculating the surface area of 3-dimensional shapes.

     It is not the goal of this unit to have students memorize formulas, but rather to help them develop and appreciation for their use and application in various settings. By the end of this unit. your child will have had many experiences using 2- and 3- dimensional geometry.

Activities