The good times keep rolling after Connectedca.  Each day has brought new fun adn engagement from the children.  Today was all about measuring surface area.  I started off with a 5 minute flip video on area (done as homework).  Then sent the children out to measure the area of the intermediate play area.  I gave them a choice of resources; large red sheets of 1 sq. m. paper or meter sticks.  See pictures.  It took less than 5 minutes for 10 of them to join together with their paper.  They started leap frogging paper around the play area all totally engaged and problem solving.  I looked over and saw 2 students with a meter stick measuring the  the dimensions of the area and then using their ipads to multiply to get the area.

When we debriefed the activity the large group that worked so well collaboratively realized sheepishly that they had only measured the perimeter.  When the 2 students with meter sticks reported on their thinking and calculation the whole class paused then broke into excited discussion.

Tomorrows problem will be to measure the area of the soccer field.  When I mentioned this 1 student muttered under his breath "Why go outside I can do that on Google Earth."  Another student called out in response to me  mentioning I will have several tools available to them,  "...are you going to put out the GPS units"  We had used them in a measurement unit a month earlier.  I look forward to their creative designs.