Math Worksheets and Lesson Plans - Geometry on the Floor

Floor Circles

"When teaching parts of a circle, pi, area and circumference, I use a tool we all have readily available...the floor! I use washable overhead markers and draw a large circle, which covers about 1/3 of my floor. I draw a perfect circle using a marker tied to a piece of string taped to the floor. I draw the diameter, a radius and a chord. My students 'walk' each part as we define them. To understand pi, the students walk the diameter and the circumference of the circle and count their steps. Once we display the data on a chart, it's easy to see that the walk around the circle took about three times as many steps as the walk across the circle. I find that the kids don't forget what pi means since they literally walked it!"
Submitted by: Pam Luckenbaugh Math6Tchr@email-removed, a sixth grade math teacher at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Edison, New Jersey. This idea was posted in the NEA's Weekly "Works4Me" Tip Newsletter.

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