Learning goals: Teacher Facing Comprehend the term “square root of $a$” (in spoken language) and the notation $\sqrt{a}$ (in written language) to mean the side length of a square whose area is $a$ square units. Create a table and graph that represents the relationship between side length and area of a square, and use the graph to estimate the side lengths of squares with non-integer side lengths. Determine the exact side length of a square and express it (in writing) using square root notation. Full lesson plan (warm-up, activities, synthesis, cool-down prompt) from 8.8 Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers, Grade 8.