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Heather Voyer

MIAA 350
Reflection #2: Grade 7, Surface Area of a Cylinder

I observed a seventh grade lesson on the objective of surface area of a cylinder.
The teacher was very energetic about the lesson and demanded respect and attention
throughout, while still being encouraging to his students. Students were not told the
formula of surface area of a cylinder; instead through exploration they were able to
discover it for themselves.
One thing I enjoyed about this lesson was the anticipatory set the teacher used to
engage students and get them thinking about the lesson. Each student had a Think
Tank paper in front of them that offered some hints for the formula, but it was first
related to a snap bracelet. The teacher used this snap bracelet and asked the students
what it meant that the bracelets maximum circumference was 8 centimeters. Students
were given one minute to record their thoughts, and then had them pair share with their
partner. All the students agreed the bracelet would have the same circumference
regardless if the bracelet was in a circle or opened up flat. The teacher told the kids to
remember this for later in the lesson.
Next students were given the task for the remainder of the lesson. The problem
was this: A boy was going to wrap two cans of mandarin oranges for his grandmothers
birthday, but he only had 550 centimeters squared of wrapping paper. Could the boy
wrap both cans separately? Students were released to work in groups of four to begin
solving this problem.
All the groups began by removing the label of the can and realizing it was a
rectangle, therefore they could use the formula to find the area of a rectangle, length x
width. As groups were working, the teacher circulated the room engaging with groups
asking them to share their thinking. Groups were given points for sharing and
participating which made them only work harder and get excited when told they earned
the points. Next groups figured out they could find the area of the base of the cans,
however, most groups forgot to calculate the top and bottom bases. The teacher asked
questions of the groups to help them remember they had two bases.
After the exploration period, the teacher called the class back together and had the
students share what formula they had come up with. He wrote
Surface Area =


But next the teacher had the groups switch cans because the cans were different sizes,
however, this time the label was missing off of all the cans. Now groups were challenged
to figure out the surface area of the cans without the aid of a label. At first the kids
groaned at this challenge, but they quickly dug in and began using their tools to solve for
surface area.
At the end of the lesson, the students were successfully able to come up with a
formula for the surface area of a cylinder, which was:
Surface Area =


There were many aspects about this lesson that I thoroughly enjoyed. One being
how prepared the teacher was from the Think Tank worksheet he began with, to not just
giving the students the formula for surface area, to his engagement strategies he used
throughout the lesson to keep the students actively engaged. Also watching the students
use their prior knowledge and the tools placed before them at their table groups (rules,
calculators, think tank worksheet) was exhilarating because there was true learning taking
place in that classroom. Students confidently shared answers when called upon and if
they did struggle, the teacher allowed them to ask a friend for help. There was deep
collaboration happening among the students and the teacher targeted all the learners,
sometimes stopping a student from talking and asking another student in the group to
pick up the explanation. It was very apparent that the students felt successful throughout
this lesson and felt safe to take risks in their learning during it.

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