Math Learning in Ms. Royce's Class

I recently visited Ms. Royce's class and observed the students engaged in a collaborative open ended question. In pairs, students were asked to, "Construct three similar rectangles, using grid paper or a geoboard, and compare the perimeter and area of the rectangles. Explain and justify your thinking. This is what we call a meaningful problem. This allows students to talk about math and for the teacher to see their thinking. It also provides students a chance to see different ways to solve a problem. Through this problem, Ms. Royce was able to teach the concept of similarity and the relationship of the area and perimeter of rectangular similar figures.