The students will be trying to determine the number of planters that they can make with one sheet of paneling and one board. The students make a sheet of "paneling" that is 8 ft. by 4 ft. and a "board" that is 8 in. by 8 ft. out of bulletin board paper. I have found that actually making the sheet of paneling and board to be as challenging as trying to find out the amount of material needed. It would be reasonable to expect the students to take 2 or 3 class periods to construct the sheet of paneling and the board.

I found that it was useful to already have the sheets of paper cut into lengths of about 9 ft. The students will have a hard time going from measuring in inches to measuring in feet. There will be allot of discussion about conversion rates. The students will also discuss how to get the right angles on the end of the paper. The great thing about this activity is that there might be three different groups constructing the sheet of paneling in three different ways, each correct.