How would you explain this math question to your child?

[Anonymous]

See #28 (bottom left hand corner for numbering). Starts with, "What is the perimeter..."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/released_tests/2013/gr_3_math_released_in_spring_2014.pdf

My sister says she can't come up with the right words to explain this to her child. Um...what?

[Anonymous]

Is the child familiar with the idea of a perimeter?

[Anonymous]

"how many units around the outside of the figure?"

[Anonymous]

How far would you walk if you have to walk along the edge of the shaded figure to go all the way around it?

[Anonymous]

She does not understand because the key to the question is illegible.

This is how you explain perimeter: Perimeter is when you trace the line on the outside of the figure.

If you colored in each block that would be the AREA. We are not looking for AREA, we are looking for PERIMETER.

Each side of the block is 1 unit but we only count the sides that are facing outward.

So trace, with your pencil around the shaded part. Each time you move from one block to the next or at each corner of a block you count ONE (1).

So you trace around the shaded area counting each time you hit a corner.

The answer is 24.

They give you the jacked up picture of a cube and say it is 1 unit to try to trick you into giving the area. If you count the blocks it is 18 blocks, the area is 18... BUT the Perimeter is 24.

[Anonymous]

I just texted it to her child and the child isn't coming up with the right answer still. She knows the definition of perimeter and can get the right answer if she is given actual numbers to calculate a perimeter. It is blocks that is messing her up...!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She does not understand because the key to the question is illegible.

This is how you explain perimeter: Perimeter is when you trace the line on the outside of the figure.

If you colored in each block that would be the AREA. We are not looking for AREA, we are looking for PERIMETER.

Each side of the block is 1 unit but we only count the sides that are facing outward.

So trace, with your pencil around the shaded part. Each time you move from one block to the next or at each corner of a block you count ONE (1).

So you trace around the shaded area counting each time you hit a corner.

The answer is 24.

They give you the jacked up picture of a cube and say it is 1 unit to try to trick you into giving the area. If you count the blocks it is 18 blocks, the area is 18... BUT the Perimeter is 24.

This helped! Using this answer, I texted my sister and asker her mom to give her something with a fine point to point as she counted as she went along. She was counting the outside part of the white blocks, which was adding too high when she got to the corners. When she stuck to counting the sides of the outside part of the shaded figure...she figured it out. THANK YOU! The shape was so small that when she counted my sister couldn't see what she was pointing to when she was counting and since my niece could define perimeter and calculate it right otherwise, she knew she understood the concept!

[Anonymous]

The teacher has to explain it. Why is a parent helping on the SOL preparations. There is enough of that going on at school.

If you are trying to explain perimeter, though...how far is it to walk around a building -- that is the perimeter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teacher has to explain it. Why is a parent helping on the SOL preparations. There is enough of that going on at school.

If you are trying to explain perimeter, though...how far is it to walk around a building -- that is the perimeter.

Niece understood the concept of perimeter. She didn't understand how to count the lines of the blocks, not all outer touching blocks. It was part of homework and not my kid's class...but regardless, I have no issue with a kid needing to understand this. The bigger picture is that she understood perimeter before this question...that is the more important piece!

[Anonymous]

When I'm explaining this to kids, I tell them imagine that they're fencing in a field for their animals. Each side of a square takes one piece of fence. How many pieces do they need. We often imagine a patterned fence and color in the sides in alternating colors (e.g. one block red, and one block blue) so they can see more clearly how many blocks are on each side. Sometimes, I tell them to think of it as a phence to remember that P is for the fence.

Area is the number of animals you can fit inside (A for Animals), if each animal needs one square.

[Anonymous]

The point of this question is clearly to test whether the student knows what "perimeter" means. If you have to explain it, then you are likely doing the hardest part for them.

Though, if they don't know what perimeter means, you need to teach them I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does not understand because the key to the question is illegible.

This is how you explain perimeter: Perimeter is when you trace the line on the outside of the figure.

If you colored in each block that would be the AREA. We are not looking for AREA, we are looking for PERIMETER.

Each side of the block is 1 unit but we only count the sides that are facing outward.

So trace, with your pencil around the shaded part. Each time you move from one block to the next or at each corner of a block you count ONE (1).

So you trace around the shaded area counting each time you hit a corner.

The answer is 24.

They give you the jacked up picture of a cube and say it is 1 unit to try to trick you into giving the area. If you count the blocks it is 18 blocks, the area is 18... BUT the Perimeter is 24.

This helped! Using this answer, I texted my sister and asker her mom to give her something with a fine point to point as she counted as she went along. She was counting the outside part of the white blocks, which was adding too high when she got to the corners. When she stuck to counting the sides of the outside part of the shaded figure...she figured it out. THANK YOU! The shape was so small that when she counted my sister couldn't see what she was pointing to when she was counting and since my niece could define perimeter and calculate it right otherwise, she knew she understood the concept!

Glad it helped.

if I could have my way I would teach/tutor math for a living.. Alas, it does not pay enough, so I enjoy helping people in Math, so you made my day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point of this question is clearly to test whether the student knows what "perimeter" means. If you have to explain it, then you are likely doing the hardest part for them.

Though, if they don't know what perimeter means, you need to teach them I guess.

If they ignore the key, the problem isn't difficult. As PP pointed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does not understand because the key to the question is illegible.

This is how you explain perimeter: Perimeter is when you trace the line on the outside of the figure.

If you colored in each block that would be the AREA. We are not looking for AREA, we are looking for PERIMETER.

Each side of the block is 1 unit but we only count the sides that are facing outward.

So trace, with your pencil around the shaded part. Each time you move from one block to the next or at each corner of a block you count ONE (1).

So you trace around the shaded area counting each time you hit a corner.

The answer is 24.

They give you the jacked up picture of a cube and say it is 1 unit to try to trick you into giving the area. If you count the blocks it is 18 blocks, the area is 18... BUT the Perimeter is 24.

This helped! Using this answer, I texted my sister and asker her mom to give her something with a fine point to point as she counted as she went along. She was counting the outside part of the white blocks, which was adding too high when she got to the corners. When she stuck to counting the sides of the outside part of the shaded figure...she figured it out. THANK YOU! The shape was so small that when she counted my sister couldn't see what she was pointing to when she was counting and since my niece could define perimeter and calculate it right otherwise, she knew she understood the concept!

Glad it helped.

if I could have my way I would teach/tutor math for a living.. Alas, it does not pay enough, so I enjoy helping people in Math, so you made my day.

What's funny is that if you read most responses to this question, I can see why my sister was frustrated, as was my niece. My niece did understand what perimeter was. If given a rectangle with the length and width she knew the answer. If asked what perimeter was, she could answer it. Lots of the posters here were focusing their answers on what is perimeter rather than explaining HOW to get to the answer even after I'd said she understood perimeter. I am NOT blaming a single responder because I was stumped, too!!! After reading what you wrote, I was able to realize I needed my sister to get my niece to pinpoint exactly WHAT she was counting up when she was counting up the perimeter "blocks" in her case (or lines, in yours).

[Anonymous]

^^^^ the key they provided created the confusion. You can hardly see the line under the block that shows what they mean by a unit. It looks like they are saying a block is a unit.