You be the architect!

Building a House: Area and Perimeter

Supplies needed:

  • Graph paper
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Crayons or colored pencils
  • A separate pocket folder that can be used specifically to store parts of this project as they are completed, graded, and returned
  • Calculator (they will be provided when at school)

Introduction

You are a contractor whois being considered for building a house.You will have to come up with a proposal to submit to your customer, a math teacher at MeadowlarkMiddle School named Mrs. Fox. Mrs. Fox is asking you to come up with a floorplan for her new home that includes a fenced in back yard for her puppy named Riffraff.

She is looking at several different floorplans and is going to choose the best one for her newhome. Will she pick yours?

In order to be an excellent contractor you have to become an expert in geometry, which will include finding the area and perimeter of shapes.

Let's get started on designing!

Task

As a contractor who is building a house you need to know how to find perimeter and area

  • In order to become an expert on calculating perimeter and area you will exploreseveral websites to learnthe formulasand how to calculate area and perimeter.
  • After you have explored these sites and you feel that youunderstand area and perimeter, you will begin working on designing your floorplan for Mrs. Fox.
  • Once you have completed your floor plan you will write a letter to Mrs. Foxtelling her how you felt about the experience of designing a house for her.
  • After the original project is completed, Mrs. Fox may contact you again to either modify your original design or to add some items to your proposal.

Process

Step 1:You will visit some of the websites below to practice area and perimeter.

Area and Perimeter Websites:

When you are finished exploring these sites you will write an explanation/example of area on one side of an index card, and write an explanation/example of perimeter on the other side of an index card. (Make sure you include information on different kinds of shapes!)

You will use this index card to help you throughout this project. You MUST get your teacher to initial the completed index card before you can proceed to step 2! This will be your first graded element in this project…so make sure you get it initialed before proceeding…

Step 2:When you feel that you understand perimeter and area well enough to do it on your own you may begin creating your floorplan for the house using graph paper.

Click on the link below to view sample floorplans (follow these steps):

1. Click on link

2.On the right, in the “Quick Search” section, click on the necessary information (see below what I specify that my floor plan must include)

3. Click “Search Plans”

4. Choose a house then click on “View”

5.When your chosen house comes up, scroll down to the bottom to find floorplan samples

6. You will probably want to look at a few different houses and possibly sketch out some ideas as you go

***PLEASE NOTE: You are NOT copying one of the plans on the website → you are looking at the house plans on the website to help you understand what a floor plan of a house should look like.

Sample floor plans

Your floorplan must include at least:

  • A living room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 garage bays
  • The house must be a 1 story house
  • The house should be between 1,500 and 2,500 square feet
  • Choose any style…remember, you are only looking at these plans to get an idea of how yours should look!
  • Each room must be labeled and colored a different color→ the room should be labeled with its purpose (i.e. bedroom, kitchen) and the measurements of the room
  • A fenced in backyard with the greatest amount of area possible and the least amountofperimeter possible.
  • A garden within the backyard shaped like a triangle
  • The garden and backyard should be labeled with measurements as well

***Remember that you may need to make several rough drafts before you can complete a final copy…keep ALL of your work!

After completing your room designs you must calculate:

  • The area and perimeter for each room
  • The area and perimeter for the fenced in backyard
  • The area and perimeter of the whole house
  • The area and perimeter of the triangle garden

(You will be given a form to fill out with the above information)

Step 3:Write a letter to Mrs. Fox regarding your experience designing her house. Make sure you let her know why she should choose your design instead of any other designs that may have been submitted.

Evaluation

You will go through several steps to insure that your work is completed correctly and is done in a quality manner. This will include checking calculations with a partner and being provided rubrics for each graded element.

Because this project will cover various concepts within our geometry unit, you can expect it to continue over several weeks. You will not need the use of a computer for most of what you will be asked to do.

There will be several different grades taken from different parts of the project, so make sure you are paying attention to when things are due!

Conclusion

Congratulations!

You are now an expert at calculating area and perimeter. Hopefully when Mrs. Fox sees your floorplan she will hire you to build her house!

***This Web quest was modified from an original by Brandy Miranda, EastCarolinaUniversity.***