Quadrilaterals

Lesson Plan used by Avinash Rane, teacher-trainee, Pushpanjali College of Education, Vasai, India. He used the 5E Approach to teach the topic "Properties of Rectangles" to Grade Five ( approximately ten year old) students. A brief description of the lesson follows:
(1) Engage: A worksheet was distributed with many figures drawn. The students had to identify the quadrilaterals in the group. Once correctly identified, the teacher announced that now thay would decipher for themselves the properties of the quadrilateral.
(2)Explore: Students were encouraged to use their instrument boxes and measure the different elements of the rectangle. Three students shared a worksheet each. Since they adopted co-operative strategies, the more able students assisted the less able ones. All measurements were entered in a tabular format provided to them on the sheet.
(3) Explain: Students were encouraged to express in their own words properties of rectangles based on their observations. They had to explain in what way these were different from properties of squares that they learnt previously.
(4) Elaborate: Students provided examples of rectangles from daily life. They were provided with other forms of quadrilaterals and checked out which quadrilaterals had common properties with a rectangle.
(5) Evaluation: Some figures were provided and given the minimum basic information students calculated the lengths of sides and measures of angles marked by a question mark.

The teacher only provided some basic guidelines. Deriving all properties and their application were the work of the students. Truly constructivist approach!!!
Working in groups and with worksheets ensured active participation of all. An integrated approach could be extended with students making craft articles from a rectangular piece of card paper. Origami can be used to confirm the properties derived by actual measurement.
Some activities for critical thinking: (A) You are given a piece of card paper that looks like a rectangle. You have no instruments with you. How can you decide if it is a rectangle?
(B)Which of these are true statements: (i) All squares are rectangles.
(ii) All rectangles are squares
(C) Draw a rectangle 5 cm in length and 3 cm in breadth. Divide it into squares of 1 cm dimensions. How many rectangles are in this figure? Think in terms of combining squares in the figure.