A fun way to measure the perimeter!

Hi guys!

As I said in previous entries, manipulation and experimentation are very important aspects when learning Maths. It is for this reason that I will propose you a visual, manipulative activity that we can carry out in class to work the concept of perimeter and its measurement.

It is a fact that measurement and geometry are perfectly related. Therefore, the contents of one block and another are linked. In this way, the activity I propose also includes geometry.

For this task, the only material that we need are ropes and cork figures. As far as I'm concerned, it is a good idea to ask children to bring their own resources, but the teacher can have some extra material.

With regard to class management, the teacher can organize pupils in cooperative groups composed of four o five students each. Thus, each group will have some flat geometric figures in their tables and they have to measure their perimeter. These figures can be made of cork. And how are they going to do it? Well, they will do it using ropes and then measuring the piece of string that corresponds to the outline of each figure.

Personally, I think it is not a difficult task to carry out in class and it can be really interesting for children. After doing the activity, children are more likely to acquire some significant knowledge about measuring perimeters in a manipulative way. I pretty recommend this activity for your class!