Mauricio and Emily reflect on the meaning of two other area measurement units—cm2 and ft2.
Episode Supports
Students’ Conceptual Challenges
Mauricio and Emily explore other units for measuring area, including centimeters squared and square feet. They extend the work they did in previous episodes to create examples of these units of measure. While they seem to do this without much difficulty, there is some confusion about how to represent these units symbolically. Provide opportunities for your students to discuss various ways to write these units.
Focus Questions
For use in a classroom, pause the video and ask this question:
[Pause the video at 0:48] Before hearing from Mauricio and Emily, reflect on when and in what contexts you’ve heard of other units of measure for area. What are the units? For what purposes would those units be appropriate?
Supporting Dialogue
After watching the video, talk with a partner about area. What is important or meaningful about square units of measure (e.g., square feet or an inch squared)? Why would we measure area using these units, and not just inches or feet?
MathTalk