Scale Factor & OREOS - A Dilations Discovery Activity!
Who doesn't love food?! Any time I can incorporate food into my students' learning, I count that as a win! We all have fun, and I have figured out that the lesson generally sticks with students better when they have something tangible (like Oreos) to remember it by! I also have found that when I can prompt my students to discover the content, rather than me just standing in front of the room and telling them the answers, that they remember it a lot better. These two things make this Scale Factor & Oreos Discovery Activity one of my favorite lessons of the year!
I start out by giving students a Mini Oreo & an Original Oreo. I have them measure correspond parts, and divide the Mini Oreo length (new) by the Original Oreo length (original). We talk about how this ratio is the scale factor, and the Mini Oreo is a dilation (specifically a reduction) of the Original Oreo since they are the same shape, just different sizes. We go through the same process with an Original Oreo & a Double Stuffed Oreo, but talk about how the dilation created a bigger shape (the Double Stuffed Oreo), so it is an enlargement. We also talk about the significance of the scale factors being less than one when the dilation was a reduction with the Mini Oreos, and how the scale factor was bigger than one when the dilation was an enlargement with the Double Stuffed Oreos.
It is a lot of information - and I don't expect my students to remember it all just by doing this activity. However, it makes their future learning so much easier! First, it exposes them to important vocabulary words in a real-world context (scale factor, dilation, enlargement, reduction, corresponding parts, ratio, etc.). In addition, when we are talking about dilations on the coordinate plane, and looking at scale factors, I am constantly referring back to this activity ~ "Remember the Mini Oreo and how the scale factor was less than one? Why was that? Is what we are doing now similar to that?". You can see them making the connections, and it always gives them a positive experience & something tangible to fall back on when the struggle of learning a new math concept sets it.
Below I have attached a link to this activity in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! I have a typed out worksheet that walks students through the activity and discovery about scale factors & dilations. I also included a Google Doc version so that you can edit it to fit your students' best needs. Feel free to change some of the questions - or you could even change the food to different sized candy bars, different pizza sizes, etc.
This is hands down one of my favorite lessons to do with my students, and I hope it can help you bring some discovery & fun to your classroom! Tag me on Twitter or Instagram if you use this idea - I would love to see how it is working in your classroom :)
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