Topic: Venn Diagrams with Two or More Circles
Time Duration: 20 minutes lesson time, 15 minutes independent time
Grades: 3rd-7th
The topic of today's class was Venn diagrams. Going into the class, the students already had
some knowledge about Venn Diagrams, so the instructor talked about the Venn diagrams in a
little more depth. A Venn diagram with three circles was put on the board and the students
had to place pictures in the correct circle. The instructor pointed out the similarities
between two and three-circle Venn Diagrams and made some connections to math. (See lesson
plan). The students were asked specific questions about a group in the diagram that might
exclude another group. For example, how many people eat ONLY pizza for dinner? The
difference between "and", and "or" was explained to the students. After questions were
answered the students practiced with Venn Diagrams using Shodor's Interactivate website. The
students used the Venn diagram shape sorter applet to practice matching shapes with the
correct circles. The instructor chose the rule for each student and observed the students
working hard to complete the applet. In the first round, the students couldn't receive help,
but in the second round, the students could work together in groups. The class ended with
the students working together to complete the Venn Diagrams.