Celebrate Square Root Day with Fun Math Activities
Happy Square Root Day! Don’t you love a good fun math day? There are four square root days this September! (9/4/25, 9/9/25, 9/16/25 and 9/25/25, so pick one day to celebrate!
Although students as young as Grade 5 can do this activity, it aligns seamlessly with the Grade 8 standard 8.EE.2 and could be a good introductory lesson for Algebra standard N.RN.1. (Especially if you follow it up with Exponent-Exploration-5_Rational-and-Radical-Exponents lesson that is posted on my High School Math Lessons webpage.) For more lessons, please subscribe.
Fun Ideas
Music
Play some fun square-themed songs!
Square Dancing
In honor of square root day, teach your students to square dance!
Food
What’s a party without food! Enjoy some square shaped food! Some ideas include pretzels, cheese-its, waffles, chocolate squares and root beer!
Contest
Have a contest to see who can memorize the most perfect squares.
Math
Part 1: Making Squares
Teacher note: This is the hands on part of the activity. You may use square tiles, post-its, grid paper or even square food.
Directions: Make as many squares as you can.
| Length of top | Length of side | Total tiles | Answer in Exponent form |
Part 2: Reflection on Making Squares
Teacher note: This section is where students reflect on the activity. It moves from noticing patterns to making rules (Standards of Mathematical Practice SMP.3, and SMP.7)
Ask students the following questions:
- What pattern(s) do you notice? Do you think that your patter always holds true?
- Can you predict what a 10 by 10 square would be?
- What about a 15 by 15 square?
- What about a 50 by 50 square?
- How would you describe a square that has 81 tiles?
- How would you describe a square that has 144 tiles? Why?
- Can you develop a rule to always make that true?
Part 3: Extending to Larger Numbers
Teacher note: Here is where the main objective of the lesson takes place. Students will start to connect the area of the square with the number inside of the square root, and the side length with the square root. This is also time to introduce the proper vocabulary. This section aligns to math practice SMP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Have the students use a calculator for the following problems:
- If you have a square with a top and side length of 30, how many tiles does it have?
- If you have a square with a top and side length of 136, how many tiles does it have?
- If you have a square with 2,704 tiles, what is the length of the top and side? How do you know?
- If you have a square with 961 tiles, what is the length of the top and side? How do you know?
Then discuss the following question with students: Can you make a connection between what you have been doing and square roots?
Part 4: Extending to Nonperfect Squares
Teacher note: This part of the activity aligns to math practice 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Have students solve the following questions without a calculator. This encourages numeracy and estimation.
- √6.25
- √9.61
- √23.04
- √57
- √82
- √24
- √18
Ask students the following question: What method did you use? Would there be a way to find a closer answer?
Student Worksheet
If you want a FREE printable student worksheet visit my K-8 Math Lessons and High School Math Lessons webpages. Be sure to subscribe to my blog for more lessons emailed straight to your inbox.
Extension: Cube Roots
This lesson on my webpage extends the learning to cube roots. Find my FREE printable student worksheet on my K-8 Math Lessons and High School Math page.
Math Standards
This activity meets the following Common Core Math Standards:
- 8.EE.2 Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to equations of the form x2 = p and x3 = p, where p is a positive rational number. Evaluate square roots of small perfect squares and cube roots of small perfect cubes. Know that √2 is irrational.
- N.RN.1 Explain how the definition of the meaning of rational exponents follows from extending the properties of integer exponents to those values, allowing for a notation for radicals in terms of rational exponents. For example, we define 51/3 to be the cube root of 5 because we want (51/3)3 = 5(1/3)3 to hold, so (51/3)3 must equal 5.
Math Practice Standards
- SMP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- SMP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the
- reasoning of others.
- SMP.7 Look for and make use of structure.
- SMP.8 Look for and express regularity in repeated
reasoning.
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Comment
Leave comments on how your square root day went!
Another fine example of an entertaining explanation of a tough math concept by Words and Numbers. Keep up the great work.