Week 26 CMT Style Problem - 6th Grade

The Daycare Center Playground

You have been hired by a day care agency to fence in an area to be used for a playground. You have been provided with 60 feet of fencing (in 4-foot sections) and a 4-foot gate. How can you put up the fence so the children have the maximum amount of space in which to play?

1. Try several different shapes that can be made with the fencing and calculate their areas. Make pictures of these shapes, including a scale drawing of the best shape.
   
   
2. Write a brief summary that describes which shape you think will have the largest area and why.
   
   
3. Imagine that the fencing is flexible, and can be made to bend. What shape would have the greatest area then?