Exploring Parallelograms

On Day 1, students use many different tool to calculate the area of different parallelograms. On Day 2, students analyze two specific strategies, then generalize and apply a formula for the relationship between the base, height, and area of all parallelograms (MP8). Notes: • This lesson is designed for 90 minutes and may take multiple class periods to complete. • This is a paper lesson that includes Teacher Presentation Screens.

By Desmos Classroom

Learning goals: Learning Goals • Compare, contrast, and use different strategies to determine the area of a parallelogram. • Understand that the term base refers to one side of a parallelogram and the term height refers to the perpendicular distance between that side and the opposite side. • Generalize how to calculate the area of a parallelogram using the length of a base and the corresponding height.  Materials • Scissors