Appendix
This curriculum unit aligns to the Virginia Standards of Learning and the Common Core standards.
Virginia Standards of Learning
Virginia is one of a handful of states that did not adopt the Common Core standards. However, Virginia’s Standards of Learning are “generally aligned” to the Common Core standards.
The Virginia’s SOLS Strand Introduction in the Curriculum Framework clearly states that students should actively engage with measurement in their environment. This curriculum unit provides many opportunities for students to measure the area and perimeter of objects in and around the school environment. The curriculum unit closely matches the description in the strand introduction.
SOL 4.7 states, “The student will solve practical problems that involve determining perimeter and area in U.S. Customary and metric units.”
The curriculum unit also aligns with SOL 4.12 that states, “The student will classify quadrilaterals as parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, and/or trapezoids.”
The curriculum framework lays out the “essential knowledge” the students should learn. In this section, it specifies that students should do the following: 1) develop definitions for parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, and trapezoids, 2) identify properties of quadrilaterals including parallel, perpendicular, and congruent sides, 3) classify quadrilaterals as parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, and/or trapezoids, 4) compare and contrast the properties of quadrilaterals, and 5) identify parallel sides, congruent sides, and right angles using geometric markings to denote properties of quadrilaterals.
Common Core
The Common Core standards focus on area and perimeter in grade 3. These Common Core standards: CCSS 3.MD.C.5; CCSS 3.MD.C.5.A; CCSS 3.MD.C5.B; CCSS. MD.C5C speak to the square unit, covering an area with unit squares, and recognizing area as an attribute, and understanding area as measurement.
Common Core standards CCSS 3.MD.C.6; CCSS 3.MD.C.7; CCSS 3.MD.C7A; CCSS 3.MD.C7B address counting unit squares; relating area to addition and multiplication; and connecting tiling area to multiplying side lengths.
CCSS 3.MD.C.7.C; CCSS 3.MD.7.D; and CCSS 3.MD.D.8 move more into problem solving using multiplication; using area models and the distributive property; recognizing that area is additive (for non-overlapping unions of regions); and finding perimeters of polygons given side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and solving problems with a fixed perimeter, and problems with a fixed area.
In grade 3, the geometry standard, CCSS 3.G.A.1 relates to classifying quadrilaterals. CCSS 3.G.A.3 relates to reflection symmetry.
In fourth grade, CCSS 4.MD.A.3 students apply area and perimeter formulas to solve real world problems. Given the area, the students will find the width or the length by viewing the formula as an equation missing a factor.
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