Session 4 - Geoboard

We did a lesson on geoboard today. I personally enjoyed this lesson. We were asked to form a shape with one dot in it and guess the area of the shape.

This was my shape in purple:

Using the square in the corner, how many squares can I count in my shape?

I counted and there are four squares in my shape.

Many different shapes were shared in class and the class managed to spot the pattern where we could count the dots outside the shape, divide it by 2 and know how many squares are in shape. It then led us to Pick's theorem where Area = i + b/2 - 1

I find it quite fascinating that there is a theorem to finding area on a geoboard. I always thought that geoboards are used for children to make a bunch of shapes using rubber bands. I never knew that an activity like finding area can be taught using geoboard let alone that there is a theory for it. This made me think twice about Math. Math can be interesting too.