Lesson 17

Interpret Diagrams

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to compare the size of a product to the size of one factor on the basis of the size of the other factor, without performing the indicated multiplication.

Lesson Narrative

In the previous lesson, students compared products in a way that made sense to them, including finding the value of the product. In this lesson, students focus on other ways to compare a product to one of the factors. First, they match products with diagrams. This helps them to think about the meaning of the product as well as giving them a visual representation which they can use to help see the comparison. In the second activity, students use this general understanding to compare products where one of the factors is not known, requiring them to make the comparisons based on the size of the other factor. It is important that students connect their products to the corresponding situations and representations (MP2).

  • Representation
  • MLR6

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Compare the size of a product to the size of one factor on the basis of the size of the other factor, without performing the indicated multiplication.

Student Facing

  • Let’s compare products without multiplying.

Required Preparation

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 20 min
Activity 2 15 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 5 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

What question do you wish you had asked today? When and why should you have asked it?

Suggested Centers

  • Rectangle Rumble (3–5), Stage 5: Fraction Factors (Addressing)
  • Rolling for Fractions (3–5), Stage 4: Multiply Fractions (Supporting)

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Additional Resources

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