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1600 Pennsylvania (Updated!)

How big is the White House?

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1600 Pennsylvania (Updated!)

How big is the White House?

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Check it out! This lesson was just updated in September 2024, and we hope you love the new and improved version. If you've already prepped an earlier version, fear not, you can still find those here through Thursday December 5, 2024.

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1600 Pennsylvania - Student Handout.pdf
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1600 Pennsylvania - Teacher Guide.pdf
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2023-2024 Versions

In the fall of 2024, Citizen Math released updated versions of every lesson in our library, plus a few new ones! We know you may have already prepped an earlier version or planned a repeat of last year, so we're continuing to make these earlier versions available through Thursday December 5, 2024.

You can find the new lessons through the regular search, and we hope you love them as much as we do. You can read more about these updates in Our Community.

How big is the White House? 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is one of the most famous addresses in the world. Not only is the White House the home of the Executive Branch, it’s also a physical representation of America.

In this lesson, students build scale models of the White House, compare scaling in one vs. two vs. three dimensions and design their ideal version of the president’s house.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • The White House is the home and office of the President of the United States.
  • Scale models are smaller representations of real-world objects (buildings, vehicles, etc.).
  • Decorating a scale model of the White House can be a fun way to celebrate American values.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Determine a model’s scale factor by comparing the length of its side to the length of the corresponding side in real life
  • Calculate the surface area of a scale model; reason about scaling in two dimensions to estimate the surface area in real life
  • Calculate the volume of a scale model; reason about scaling in three dimensions to estimate the volume in real life
Appropriate most times as students are developing conceptual understanding.
Grade 6
Area/SA/Volume
Grade 6
Area/SA/Volume
Content Standards 6.G.2 Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with fractional edge lengths by packing it with unit cubes of the appropriate unit fraction edge lengths, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths of the prism. Apply the formulas V = l w h and V = b h to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with fractional edge lengths in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. 6.G.4 Represent three-dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area of these figures. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. 7.G.1 Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale. 7.G.6 Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms.
Mathematical Practices MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically. MP.6 Attend to precision. MP.7 Look for and make use of structure.

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