Geometry and Measurement 6-8
A garage design studio: area, nets, volume, scale drawings, circles, angles, slides, flips, turns and dilations, the Pythagorean theorem, round solids and a Build Day.
Start free → A Rocket & Raven series · Math
Geometry and Measurement
A free online middle-school geometry course for Grades 6 to 8: area by cutting and composing, nets and volume, scale drawings, triangles, circles, angles, slides, flips, turns and dilations, the Pythagorean theorem and round solids, worked out with cardboard, string, a tape measure and graph paper, plus a Build Day project.
About the series
Geometry and Measurement is a free online geometry course for Grades 6 to 8 that uses only things a family already has: cardboard, paper and scissors, a ruler and tape measure, string, a protractor, graph paper, small cubes, straws, an empty can and a flashlight. The crew turns a garage corner into the Blueprint Table and designs, draws and builds a cardboard model clubhouse, and every week's math makes one part of the build work. Students cut a parallelogram and slide it into a rectangle to see why area is base times height, draw the floor plan on a coordinate grid, unfold a box into a net to find how much cardboard the walls need, pack a bin with cubes to find its volume, draw the garage at 1 cm to 50 cm, build triangles from three straws, wrap string around a can to meet pi, write equations for the angles of a roof frame, slide, flip, turn and enlarge tile shapes on the grid, lean a ladder against the wall to find the Pythagorean theorem, and pour water from a cone into its cylinder to see the one-third rule. Every question is checked as the student answers it, every answer is computed by the course itself, and the course maps week by week to the Common Core Grade 6, 7 and 8 geometry standards and the Grade 8 number-system standards. It ends with a Build Day where the student shows the finished model to the family. Short lessons run Monday to Friday, with a hands-on Build Lab each week, and Saturday is Build Day.
In every course
- Grades 6 to 8, about 20 minutes a day
- Twelve weeks, from area by cutting to the Pythagorean theorem and a Build Day
- A design studio built from cardboard, string, straws, graph paper and a tape measure
- Figures, nets, grids, angle pairs and right triangles drawn for every lesson
- Every answer computed and checked, with a hint when a try is wrong
- Maps to the Common Core Grade 6, 7 and 8 geometry standards and the Grade 8 number system
- A Saturday Build Day for the family, with a note for the grown-up
- Free, start to finish. No card.
The course
The course is free, start to finish.
Questions families ask
What does it cost?
Nothing. Geometry and Measurement is free from start to finish, with no card. A free parent account saves each student's progress.
What do we need at home?
Cardboard (cereal boxes work), paper, scissors, a ruler and a tape measure, string, a protractor or a printed one, graph paper, small cubes such as sugar cubes or blocks, drinking straws, an empty smooth-rimmed can, a flashlight, masking tape, a marker and a notebook.
Does it follow Ratios and Data and Expressions and Equations?
It stands on its own. It assumes fractions, decimals and the coordinate plane from Ratios and Data, and uses simple equations from Expressions and Equations when solving for an angle.
Which standards does it cover?
The Common Core Grade 6, 7 and 8 geometry standards, and the Grade 8 number-system standards on irrational numbers. Pi is used as 3.14 throughout.
Is there anything dangerous?
No. Scissors only, never a craft knife; cans are empty with smooth rims; clay is sliced with string; the ladder is leaned and measured, never climbed; the flashlight never shines in eyes. Every hands-on activity carries a safety note.
More from Rocket & Raven
Coding, science, engineering, math and AI literacy from kindergarten through Grade 12. Every course is free.