Miniature Golf Course
In this lesson, students apply concepts of area and perimeter to solve multi-step problems
involving real-world examples. This lesson will take 2-3 days.
NC Mathematics Standards:
Measurement and Data
NC.4.MD.3 Solve problems with area and perimeter.
 Find areas of rectilinear figures with known side lengths.
 Solve problems involving a fixed area and varying perimeters with a fixed perimeter and
varying areas.
 Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical
problems.
Standards for Mathematical Practice:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
4. Model with mathematics.
Student Outcomes:
 I can determine the area of a rectilinear figure.
 I can determine the perimeter of a rectilinear figure.
Math Language:
 area
 perimeter
 rectilinear figure
Materials:
 student handout (1 per student)
Part 1:
Launch:
1. Introduce Problem (10 minutes)
Begin by showing the video about the mini-golf master found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGRkZQGfUXU. After the video, ask students if they
have ever played mini-golf before. After students share their experiences with mini-golf,
ask, “What did you notice that the man in the video clip did to help him be successful?”
Tell students that today they will be working at their own mini-golf course. Pose the
following task:
The Ramseur Miniature Golf Course is for sale and you have decided to buy it. However,
the course is not in good shape. It needs new grass and new fencing. The old grass has
worn away and now has holes in it. A new fence is needed to protect the golf course. Using
the diagram provided, how much grass will you need to purchase? How much fencing will
you need to purchase?
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FOURTH GRADE
Explore:
2. Solving the Problem (15 - 30 minutes)
Allow students time to work with a partner to determine how much grass and fencing is
needed for the golf course.
Observe:
 How are students organizing and representing their thinking?
 How are students dividing the golf course to make rectangles they can work with?
 Are students using different methods to solve the same problem?
 Are students able to determine if they should use area when needing to determine
how much grass?
 Are students able to determine they should use the perimeter formula when
determining how much fencing to use?
Carefully select students to present to the class. Look for students who can successfully
subdivide the larger rectangle, determine perimeter, and determine area. Choose different
pairs of students to show different parts of the problem.
Discuss:
3. Discussion of Part 1 (15 – 20 minutes)
Bring the group back together and have selected students share their strategies for solving
the task. Relate the discussion back to how they were able to determine area and perimeter
based on the complex shape. Probe students by asking:
 How were you able or why were you unable to find the area and/or perimeter of the
entire shape?
 Why did you need to subdivide the shape?
 Once you determined the area of each of the smaller rectangles, what did you need to
do next?
 Once you determined the perimeter of each of the smaller rectangles, what did you
need to do next?
 If given the opportunity to complete this task again, would you have done it
differently? How? Why?
NOTE: During the discussion, the students need to solidify their understanding of finding
area of rectilinear figures and to see how they use the area and perimeter formulas. Press
students to ensure understanding of the concept. The discussion is the time to uncover
misconceptions in student thinking and for the teacher to press this concept. If a few
students do not understand this concept, they may need individual instruction and more time
to develop this concept.
Part 2:
Launch:
4. Introduce Part 2 of Problem (2-3 minutes)
Ask students if they know a smaller unit of measurement other than a yard that we could use
to measure the grass and fence for the golf course. Then pose Part 2 of the task:
When you go to buy the grass, you realize that it is only sold in square feet instead of yards.
There are three square feet in each yard. How many square feet of grass will you need to
buy in order to get the right amount to cover your course? The grass cost $3.00 per square
foot. How much money will you need to buy all the grass to cover your golf course?
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FOURTH GRADE
Explore:
5. Solving the Problem (15 - 30 minutes)
Allow students time to work with a partner on Part 2 in order to determine how many square
feet of grass you will need to purchase and how much it would cost to grass the golf course.
Observe:
 How are students organizing and representing their thinking?
 What operation and/or strategies are students using to convert the yards to feet?
 Once they determine the number of feet, are they using this information to
determine the cost?
Carefully select students to present to the class. Look for students who can successfully
convert yards to feet and model that for the class. Also look for students who are able to
solve the entire portion of Part 2 and determine the cost of the grass.
Discuss:
6. Discussion of Part 2 (15 – 20 minutes)
Bring the group back together and have selected students share their strategies for solving
the task. Relate the discussion back to how they were able to determine how many square
feet of grass and how much that would cost. Possible questions:
 What made this task difficult?
 What information was vital for completing this task?
 What information did we need to know in order to determine how much the grass
would cost?
 Is there another way that we could have solved this problem other than determining
the number of square feet first?
Part 3:
Launch:
7. Introduce Part 3 of Problem (5 minutes)
Tell students in order to complete this task we need to complete one more portion. Pose the
following question:
You get to the store and discover that the fence is also sold in feet instead of yards. How
many feet of fence do you need to fence in your golf course? After figuring out how many
feet of fencing you need, you figure out that they only sell it in 50-foot sections. How many
sections are you going to need? Every 50 feet of fence cost $85.00. How much money will
you need to buy the correct amount of fencing?
Explore:
8. Solving the Problem (15 - 30 minutes)
Allow students time to work with a partner on Part 3 determining how many feet of fencing
you will need and how many 50 foot sections. Observe:
 How are students organizing and representing their thinking?
 What operation and/or strategies are students using to convert the yards to feet?
 Once they determine the number of feet, are they using this information to determine
the cost?
Carefully select students to present to the class. Look for students who can successfully
convert yards to feet and model that for the class. This would be a good time to choose
NC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
FOURTH GRADE
students who struggled with this concept from Part 2 and can now convert the measurements
correctly. Also look for students who are able to solve the entire portion of Part 3 and
determine the number of 50-foot sections and the cost of that many sections.
Discuss:
9. Discussion of Part 3 (15 – 20 minutes)
Bring the group back together and have selected students share their strategies for solving
the task. Relate the discussion back how they were able to determine how many feet of
fencing was needed and how much that would cost. Possible questions:
 What made this task difficult?
 How was this task different from determining how much grass was needed?
 What was important to consider when solving this task?
 Is there another possible answer for how much the fencing would cost if you wanted
to share the cost with a friend?
Summarize the lesson parts and the strategies students used. Have students share what they
have learned about problem solving and how this will help them on future assessments. Be
sure to discuss how oftentimes you need to use the answer to one part of a problem for other
parts. Therefore, you need to work carefully and think through all parts of the problem,
checking to see if each part makes sense. At the end of the lesson, give students the exit
ticket problem (attached at end) to evaluate each student’s independent understanding of
these concepts.
Evaluation of Student Understanding:
Informal Evaluation:
 Observe and monitor students as they solve the problem. How are they making sense of the
problem? Keep track during each portion of the lesson to see if students that may be
struggling at the beginning are able to use information from each part to build on their
learning in the next portions.
Formal Evaluation/Exit Ticket:
 At the end of the lesson, give students the exit ticket problem (attached at end). Students
will not need to solve for the cost of grass or fencing, just determine area and perimeter for a
rectilinear shape.
Meeting the Needs of the Range of Learners:
Interventions:
 Students who are struggling may be assigned a partner who can help them get started.
 If the entire class needs help getting started, spend more time in the launch phase of the
lesson. You may need to make a chart with the class containing information that we know,
what we need to know (what each part is asking of them), and to create a plan to get started.
 Provide students with tiles to build the shapes so they can manipulate them.
Possible Misconceptions/Suggestions:
Possible Misconceptions
 Students do not understand the problem.
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Suggestions
 As a class set up a chart modeling what we
know, need to know, and create a plan for
getting started.
FOURTH GRADE


Students are trying to divide in order to
determine the number of feet needed.
Use yard sticks to explain how many feet are
in one yard and/or complete one section of the
rectangle together.
Special Notes:
● You could break this into a two to three-day lesson based on discussion and student work.
See student page for part 1, part 2, and part 3. Distribute the handout in sections based on
each part instead of giving all parts out at once.
● Also note that customary measurement conversions are no longer part of our standards. This
is a review from third grade.
Possible Solutions:
10 yards
25
yards
10 x 25 =
250 square
yards
10 yards
15 yards
15 x 15 =
225 square
yards
15 yards
25 yards
Part 1:
1. Area: 250 + 225 = 475 square yards
2. Perimeter: 25 + 25 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 = 100 yards
Part 2:
3. Grass: 475 yards x 3 = 1,425 square feet
4. 1,425 feet x $3 = $4, 275 to grass
Part 3:
5. 100 yards x 3 = 300 feet of fencing
300 feet ÷ 50 = 6 50-foot sections needed
6. 6 sections x $85 = $510 for fencing
NC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
FOURTH GRADE
Possible Solutions:
10 yards
10 x 10 =
100 square
yards
10 yards
25
yards
15 yards
25 x 15 =
375 square
yards
15 yards
25 yards
Part 1:
1. Area: 100 + 375 = 475 square yards
2. Perimeter: 25 + 25 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 = 100 yards
*All other sections are same as above*
Exit Ticket Solution:
(Students could also split the shape using horizontal lines.)
18 yards
18 yards
15
yards
18 x 30 =
540 square
yards
15 x 18 =
270 square
yards
18 yards
30 yards
8
yards
18 yards
1. Area: 270 + 540 = 810 square yards
2. Perimeter: 15 + 18 + 18 + 30 + 18 + 18 + 8 + 7= 117 yards
NC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
FOURTH GRADE
Ramseur Miniature Golf
The Ramseur Miniature Golf Course is for sale and you have decided to buy
it. However, the course is not in good shape. It needs new grass and new
fencing. The old grass has worn away and now has holes in it. A new fence is
needed to protect the golf course.
Here is your miniature golf course.
10 yards
10 yards
25
yards
15 yards
15 yards
25 yards
Part 1
1. How much grass will we need to buy in order to cover our miniature golf course?
2. How much fencing will we need to buy in order to fence in our golf course?
NC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
FOURTH GRADE
Part 2:
3. When you go to buy the grass you realize that it is only sold in square feet instead
of yards. There are three square feet in each yard. How many square feet of grass
will you need to buy in order to get the right amount to cover your course?
4. The grass cost $3.00 per square foot. How much money will you need to buy all
the grass to cover your golf course?
Part 3:
5. You get to the store and discover the fence is also sold in feet instead of yards.
How many feet of fence do you need to fence in your golf course? After figuring
out how many feet of fencing you need, you figure out that they only sell it in 50
foot sections. How many sections are you going to need?
6. Every 50 feet of fence cost $85.00. How much money will you need to buy the
correct amount of fencing?
NC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
FOURTH GRADE
Exit Ticket
Your best friend, Webb, decided to purchase a mini-golf course in Asheboro after
having so much fun at your course. Use the model below to determine how much
fencing and grass Webb will need to purchase in order to restore his course.
Here is your miniature golf course.
18 yards
30 yards
15
yards
18 yards
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8
yards
FOURTH GRADE