Learning with iPad - "Map the School". Learn Angles, Area and and Distances

 

Context

Students often learn about angles, distances, and area in abstract ways. This activity helps them connect geometry to their physical environment by mapping part of their school environment with iPad.

Students will work in pairs or small groups to gather measurements using the Measure app on iPad, then use Freeform to sketch and label a scaled map of the area they surveyed (classroom, floor, block, or whole campus). 

Preparation and Flow

Intro & Demo (5m)

Set the context and introduce the activity of creating a map of the campus (or classroom / block / floor) with their iPad.

Introduce the Tools (5m) - Freeform

In Freeform, the dots in the background are 50 points apart. With the ruler, you can draw lines of exact sizes. 

For the purposes of this activity, you can ask students to assume 1 point corresponds to 0.1 meters. 

 

Collect Measurements and Map the Space (30m)

Adjust the timing as needed. A larger space will take require more time.

Get students to map any part of the school. Depending on the time available, this can be from mapping a classroom to mapping a floor of a block, or the entire school campus. 

Students should:

  • Measure the length of walls around the school
  • Draw lines on their Freeform board to represent the wall
  • Annotate the lines with the physical size of structures
  • Label rooms and other features of the school, for example, where ponds, water coolers, and more are located.

Angles, Areas, Perimeters, and more! (10m)

Back in class, you can get students to calculate the angles, perimeters, areas, and more around the school.

Submission

You can get students to export the Freeform board as a PDF document and upload it to SLS.

 

Possible Extension

Redesign the School

Students can use their layout to redesign the school.

This can be something like “Propose a new design for the school canteen” and get students to consider how and where they would place the furniture, what environment they would like to create, and what spaces they enjoy.

From the LearnGrowCreate Team

Main author: Jia Chen

Singapore Secondary Schools
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