Act Like an Architect: Fourth Graders

Act Like an Architect: Draw Your Bedroom

How you can help at home: In this math activity, your child draws his bedroom to scale.
By Miriam Myers , GreatSchools Staff


Have your child explore measurement by drawing his bedroom to scale.
What you'll need
•Paper

•Pen or pencil

•Ruler or tape measure

•Graph paper preferably with one-inch squares

How to do it
Discuss how an architect uses math to draw up plans for a house. Explain that the plans need to be to scale. Tell your child he is going to take measurements of his bedroom and make a smaller scale of his room on paper. Have your child measure the length and width of the room in feet. Then have him measure two pieces of furniture, such as his bed and dresser, in feet. He does not need to measure every item in the room as this may be too overwhelming a task. Have him write the measurements on paper. Using a scale of one inch to one foot have him draw the bedroom to scale on graph paper. Talk about how he could rearrange the furniture in his bedroom by using the scale drawing to see how things would fit before physically moving the furniture. Discuss other reasons and jobs, such as an interior design or mapmaking, in which scale models are used.