Pi

Now that students have discovered pi as the relationship between the circumference and diameter of a circle, it is time for them to use it to find the area of a circle. Posting these formulas up around the room can be helpful to students.

Materials: one copy of a large circle divided into 8 congruent parts; scissors and rulers for each student

Preparation: Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Divide it into 8 equal parts as shown below. Make enough copies for the whole class.

• Say: Yesterday, we examined how to find the circumference of a circle, given its diameter. Today we are going to investigate how to find the area of a circle given its radius.
  Pass out copies of the circle. Pass out the scissors too.

• Say: Cut out the circle on the sheet of paper I just passed out to you. Then cut each of the 8 sections out. Put your scissors down when you have finished, so I know you are ready to move on.

• Say: Now rearrange your 8 pieces like this. (Have them rearrange the 8 pieces as shown below.)

• Ask: What does this figure look like?

  

  Students should say that it looks something like a parallelogram.

• Ask: How do I find the area of a parallelogram?
  Elicit from students that the area of a parallelogram can be found by using the formula A = b h.

• Ask: What would be the base of the parallelogram?
  Students will probably say that it is the length of the bottom of the figure. You may have to point out that the base b would equal half the circumference of the circle, orb = C. Since C = pd, and d = 2r, we can substitute 2pr for C to show that b = pr. Write this on the board. Review the substitutions made in the equation so they are clear to students.

• Ask: What would be the height? Students should say that it is the radius of the circle. Write the following on the board.
  

  A = b h, and since b = pr and h = r,
  A = pr r , or
  A = pv

• Say: Therefore, to find the area of a circle, all we need to know is the radius, because we know that p 3.14. Find the area of a circle if its radius is 6 inches.

• Have a student show how he/she does the problem on the board. Then have students do the problems below.

• Introducing the Concept
• Developing the Concept