- Give each student a piece of 1/4-inch ruled graph paper and a triangle-shaped toy. Students will trace the outline of the toy onto the paper. After they remove the toys, they can count the number of squares within the outline. Divide the number of squares by 4 to calculate the area of the triangle in square inches.
- Give each student a rectangular piece of construction paper. Have them cut the pieces of paper into two equal triangles. Ask them to demonstrate that the area of each triangle is half the area of a rectangle using the formulas for area of a triangle, a = (1/2) (b x h), and area of a rectangle, a = (b x h).
- Read the planting instructions from a package of wildflower seeds to the students. Point out that the instructions on the package state the square feet that the seeds will cover. Have the children use string to figure and show the borders of a garden that has a triangle area of the correct amount of square feet. If possible, plant the garden on school grounds.
- Make a geoboard from a sheet of pegboard, box of nuts and bolts. The bolts need to fit inside the holes on the pegboard. Make grid lines through the holes on a 12-inch-by-12-inch pegboard. Push the bolts through all of the holes in the pegboard. Secure each of them to the board with the nuts. The top of the geoboard is the side with the protruding bolt ends. Place rubber bands on these bolt ends to make triangles on the geoboard. Determine the area of each triangle by counting the squares within the area of the rubber band.
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