Spatial Awareness - Carpentry
Learning target: learn about perimeter, area and factors to design spaces
Supplies: graph paper, pencil
Instructions for facilitator:
You are building a new chicken coop for your hens. Each hen needs 2 sq ft of room inside to prevent fighting
for space. You have 12 hens.
1. How large does your coop need to be? The “square feet” was a clue that we are talking about area
vs. perimeter. What area does your coop need to be? (12 hens x 2 sq ft = 24 sq ft)
2. Draw a coop that would work for the area calculated. Is there more than one way to construct a
coop with 24 sq ft of area?
3. Each hen needs 1 ft of roosting bar space. How many bars should you mount in the coop? How long
will they each be? (For the moment, assume the bars are not going diagonally across the coop.)
Now you are creating a fenced-in run for the chickens because the raccoons are hungry this winter.
1. Chickens need 4 square feet per bird for their run. What is the area you need to provide in their
outdoor run? (12 hens x 4 sq ft = 48 sq ft)
2. Ask the children to draw a rectangle (remember, rectangles can be squares) with area of 48. Is there
more than one way to do that?
3. Ask the children to calculate the perimeter of their rectangle. Which perimeter is shortest? Longest?
Remember to use units (feet or meters).
4. If the fencing costs $2 per linear foot, which run would cost the least to build? Show the math
equations to calculate the total cost for the perimeter.
5. Conserving material helps make a bigger profit. Each child was asked to name a profession where
this kind of spatial awareness might be important. They came up with furniture makers, car makers,
folks who upholster, clothing manufacturers, and cookie makers.
Extensions:

Start from scratch – how many chickens do you WANT to have? How many eggs does your family eat
per week? Then build the coop and the run.

You have 30 feet of fencing, what is the biggest run you can build? Hint: create a table for length and
width, then add a column to provide the area. Find the length and width which maximizes area.
Submitted by: Alli Krug