A Space for Chickens

10 min

Narrative

The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the idea that chickens are usually kept in a fenced area, which will be useful when students solve a problem about how many chickens can be kept in a fenced area in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about this image, the ideas that chickens are kept in a fenced area and how much space they need are the important discussion points.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Display the image.
  • “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
  • 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
  • “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
  • 1 minute: partner discussion
  • Share and record responses.

Student Task

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Sample Response

Students may notice:
  • There are four chickens in the yard.
  • The chickens are in a fenced area.
  • The fence forms small rectangles.
  • It looks like two of the rectangles form a square.
Students may wonder:
  • Are there more chickens in the yard?
  • How much space do the chickens have?
  • Do the chickens have a coop?

Synthesis

  • “What kinds of things would you have to consider if you planned an area for chickens?” (how much space they need, how to keep them from getting loose, how much food they eat)
Standards
Building Toward
  • 3.MD.5·Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.
  • 3.MD.8·Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.
  • 3.MD.C.5·Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.
  • 3.MD.D.8·Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.

15 min

25 min