Direct the class to open the area applet. Ask them to see if they can figure out what area is by experimenting with the perimeter setting. Once the majority of the students have discovered what area is, have one student try to explain it to the class.

Now direct the students to open the perimeter applet, and experiment with the area setting to see if they can figure out what perimeter is. Once the majority of the students have discovered what perimeter is, have one of the students explain to the rest of the class what perimeter is.

Give the class 10 minutes to work with the shape explorer applet. Have the students draw each computer generated shape and record the shape's perimeter and area on a piece of graph paper.

Once the students have had ample time to experiment with the applets give them a real life application problem. For example: Your mother says you can have a dog, if you build a fence for your back yard. The only problem is you don't have enough fence to fence in your entire back yard. You only have 16 meters of fencing. Design a pen with the largest possible area using the fencing provided. Be sure to include the perimeter and area measurements in your completed design.

Once the class has completed these activities have them discuss why it might be important to know how to calculate perimeter and area. For example: Architects use perimeter and area measurements to design house plans.