Mathematics / Year 5 / Measurement

Curriculum content descriptions

solve practical problems involving the perimeter and area of regular and irregular shapes using appropriate metric units (AC9M5M02)

Elaborations
  • investigating problem situations involving perimeter; for example, “How many metres of fencing are required around a paddock, or around a festival event?”
  • using efficient ways to calculate the perimeters of rectangles, such as adding the length and width together and doubling the result
  • solving measurement problems, such as “How much carpet would be needed to cover the entire floor of the classroom”, using square metre templates to directly measure the floor space
  • creating a model of a permaculture garden, dividing the area up to provide the most efficient use of space for gardens and walkways, labelling the measure of each area, and calculating the amount of resources needed; for example, compost to cover the vegetable garden
  • using a physical or a virtual “geoboard app” to recognise the relationship between area and perimeter and solve problems; for example, investigating what is the largest and what is the smallest area that has the same perimeter
  • exploring the designs of fishing nets and dwellings of First Nations Australians, investigating the perimeter, area and purpose of the shapes within the designs
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Numeracy Numeracy
ScOT terms

Units of measurement,  Area,  Problem solving,  Perimeter

Video

Area and perimeter video

Use this video to connect area and perimeter to real world applications to set the context for why we are learning about area and perimeter.

Text

Café Fractions - Calculate

In this task, students take the role of the owner of a cake wholesaler, baking and supplying cakes to local café businesses. As café owners order their weekly cakes by the slice, students are required to add unit fractions together to calculate total cake orders. They then solve problems associated with subtracting fractional ...

Text

Inquiry Prompt Ribbon Bow - Calculate

This open-ended task challenges students to carry out a mathematical investigation using a ribbon-bow as a stimulus. They are encouraged to develop their own research questions and investigate possible solutions using using mathematical problem solving and modelling strategies.

Text

Work Unit: Mr Moon’s feathery problem - Calculate

This unit of work provides a rich, contextual activity through which students can explore the applications of measurement (length, area and capacity), to a real problem in an everyday context for Students in Years 5 & 6.

Text

Reasoning Year 5 - Calculate

The focus of this activity is for students to recognise the relationship between the dimensions of a square or rectangle and the perimeter and area of these shapes. Students will need to use a systematic approach to show that they have found all the possible solutions.

Text

Nets, shapes … and donuts!

In this lesson, students learn about industrial engineering and explore designing cardboard packaging nets that can be folded into innovative packages.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 39: Area vs perimeter

Want to know the trick to making a really big fort? Using cushions to build a fort, explore the concept of finding the largest area for a fixed perimeter. Surprisingly, there is no direct relationship between the perimeter of a rectangle and its area.

Video

Area of a square and a triangle

Do you know the formula for working out the area of a square? How about a triangle? Watch this short maths video to learn the formulas for both.

Video

Working out the areas

Do you know how to work out the area of a square, a rectangle or a triangle? Learn the simple maths formulas needed from this video. What would be the area of a rectangle with a height of 5cm and a length of 3cm?

Video

For the Juniors: Drawing a floor plan

How do we know what a house will look like before it is built? Discover how house plans work by looking at the design of a house that Hugo's family is going to build. See how a floor plan shows the room layout. See drawings of what the house will look like from different views.

Text

Lengths and areas

This is a website designed for teachers and students in year 5, and addresses components of the length and area topic. It is particularly relevant for selecting appropriate metric units of measurement for length, perimeter and area, and calculation of the area of rectangles. There are pages for both teachers and students. ...

Interactive

Numeracy wrap: Round the outside

In this resource students will calculate the perimeter of different shapes, choose the appropriate measuring device, make different shapes from given perimeters

Video

Catalyst: Take the Phi Golden challenge

The golden ratio, Phi: fact or fallacy? What about the Fibonacci sequence? We are told this ratio and its cousin Fibonacci occur everywhere in nature. Let's see which of these claims stacks up when put to the test.

Video

What skills are important for programming robots?

Listen as David McKinnon from UNSW describes some of the skills that are useful to have if you want to program robots. David explains an activity that exercises problem solving skills. Why don't you try doing it? Look at a map and find some towns that are close to yours. Use the scale on the map to work out the distances ...

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 16: It's an estimate, not a guess!

An approximation is the nearest estimate without having the precise size or measurement of something. See how accurate estimates are made in logical ways using information about many things in our everyday lives.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 1: Magic 9s

Follow these simple calculations to illustrate the special properties of the number 9. Pick your favourite number between 1 and 9 and multiply that number by 3. Add 3 to your answer. Multiply the result by 3. Treat your two-digit answer as two separate numbers and add them together. No matter what number you pick to start ...

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 5: Measure a tree without using a ladder

What do you do when you need to measure a length, height or distance but don't have a ruler or some other measuring instrument? You can compute linear measurements with surprising accuracy using indirect measurements, proportions and estimations. Learn a nifty trick to measure a tree from a distance.

Video

BTN: What is the GST?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax placed on things people buy with money or things people do for money. Can you name some goods and services that have GST? What about some goods and services that don't have GST? Find out when and why the GST was first introduced.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 40: Kaprekar's operation

Did you know that 6,174 is a very mysterious number? In 1949, the mathematician Dr Kaprekar from India devised a process now known as Kaprekar's operation. First, choose a four-digit number where the digits are all different. Then rearrange the digits to get the largest and smallest numbers these digits can make. Finally, ...

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 31: Heavy vs big

How would you measure and compare the weight of something? Learn why big things aren't necessarily heavy. All you need is something heavy and a lot of something light and you’ll be able to prove that weight is not the same as size.