Making Measurement Meaningful

Measurement is a comparison of an attribute of an item or situation with a unit that has the same attribute.

Meaningful measurement and estimation of measurements depends on personal familiarity with the unit of measure being used.

Bucket

Ball

Around the house

Length Mass or weight Capacity Area Volume Time Temperature Angles

Students must understand the attribute they are going to measure

Students must understand what a unit of measure is and how it is used to produce a measurement

Students must understand the devices used to measure the attribute

Linker Cubes Linker Chains Drinking straws Paper clips Giant footprints Body comparisons:

HandDigit Height

Make it easier to focus directly on the attribute being measured.

Make a good case for why standardization is important.

Fun!

Informal measurement gives the student an opportunity to understand the attribute being measured before

introducing the standard measurement.

Estimation of measures and personal benchmarks for frequently used units help students increase their familiarity with unitsprevent errors in measurementsaid in the meaningful use of measurement

Helps students focus on the attribute being measured and the measuring process

Provides intrinsic motivation to measurement activities

Helps develop familiarity with the unit of measure

Emphasizes the use of approximate language, including “about” the measure of …

Helps clarify “precision” of error – the most precise we can ever be is half the measured unit of measure

Find 5 items that are about the measure of 5 linker chains

Find 5 items that are about the measure of a foot

Don’t always start from the edge“Zero” on rulers vary

Use a broken ruler Measure items smaller than the ruler Measure items longer than the ruler

Length of a paper clip

Length of the middle digit of your little finger

About

an inch

12 inches

A little more that the height of a piece of paper

Adult foot

3 feet 36 inches

Height of a small child

5280 feet

Distance traveled Distance between Black Bob Rd. and

Mur-Len Distance between Black Bob Rd. and

Pflumm Distance between 127th St. and 135th St. Distance between 119th St. and 127th St.

Thickness of a dime

Thickness of the lead in your pencil

10 millimeters

Width of your little finger nail

Width of a paper clip

100 millimeters 10 centimeters

Length of a crayon Height of a soup can Small pocket comb Cell phone

Height of a door knob

Child Baseball bat Golf Club

10 meters

Length of a classroom

½ of a tennis court

Small school bus

100 meters

Football field plus one end zone

A little more than a half mile (.6 of a mile)

Long distancesDriving distances

Marathons – 42 Kilometers (26 miles)

Customary – 10 yards Metric – 10 meters = 1 dekameter

Which team will reach their mark first? Cooperative Learning Groups

#1 Recorder: Select and read the card. Make an estimate of the item to be measured.

#2 Coach: Select and locate the right measurement tool to use. Explain the markings on measurement tool.

#3 Athlete: Measure the item. Get a confirmation from team members that the measurement is accurate.

#4 Equipment manager: Locate the item to measure, explain how it is used. When finished, return the item.

8 ounces

Cup of milk Milk at lunch

16 ounces 2 cups

Fountain drink

32 ounces 4 cups 2 pints

Small Milk container Egg Nog

Quart of oil

128 ounces

Milk

Pitcher

GQPPcc cc

QPPcc cc QPPcc cc

QPPcc cc

The BIG“G”

4th and 5th Grade

20 drops of water

Eye dropper

Small amounts of medicine

10 milliliters = 1 cubic centimeter

Teaspoon of medicine

Very small perfume bottle

Small bottle of fingernail polish bottle

100 milliliters 10 centiliters

Tea cup

1000 milliliters 100 centiliters 10 deciliters

A little more than a quart

2 liter pop bottle

10 liters

Fish tank

Large punch bowl

1000 liters

Tank of gas

Small child’s wading pool

Piece of paper taped the short way into a cylinder

Piece of paper taped the long way into a cylinder

Weight of a letter taking one stamp

16 ounces

Baked potato Can of vegetables Box of pasta Large bag of marshmallows

Bag of sugar or flour

2000 pounds

Small Car

1/1000 of a gram

Mass of a bee’s wing

Paper clip

Note: A penny weighs approximately 2.5 - 3 grams.

1000 grams

Textbook

5 bananas

A little over 2 pounds

Line up the 5 items in order from smallest capacity to largest capacity.EstimateLine up the itemsCheck on the label

Line up the 5 items in order from lightest weight to heaviest.EstimateLine up the itemsCheck on the label

Kilometer Hectometer Dekameter Meter – Basic UNIT Decimeter Centimeter Millimeter

Measurement of covering Don’t use formulas, allow the students

to create the rulesUse informal – How many deck of cards will

fit onto a piece of paper?Formal – How many 1” color tiles does it

take to fill the piece of paper?

Amount of space inside an objectCubic units

Use wooden cubes to find fill containers.

Gallon – 128 ounces, milk jug, 4 quarts Quart – 32 ounces, eggnog, quart of

milk Pint – 16 ounces, medium fountain drink Cup – 8 ounces, milk container at lunch

Kilometer – a little over ½ mile (6/10 of a mile)

Hectometer – football field + one end zone

Dekameter – length of a small school bus, width of your bedroom

Meter – height of a door knob, baseball bat, a little more than a yard

Decimeter – height of a soup can, width of your hand, length of a crayon

Centimeter – width of your little fingernail, width of a paper clip

Millimeter – thickness of a dime

Kiloliter – child’s wading pool of water – metric ton

Hectoliter – car’s gas tank Dekaliter – large punch bowl, fish bowl Liter – a gulp more than a quart Deciliter – tea cup Centiliter – teaspoon of liquid medicine Milliliter – 20 drops of water

Kilogram – textbook, 5 bananas, a little over 2 pounds (2.2 lbs.)

Gram – mass of a paperclip

Milligram – mass of a butterfly’s wing

Link learning of measurement by having the students measure items at homeMeasurement Line-upsCooking and BakingScale drawings of rooms which would

include measurements Informal – measure the length and width of

their room by stepping it off.Build a ramp (skateboard or handicap)

Throughout the school – make measurement a focus. Points of reference A daily question with the answer given at the end

of the day. How far is it from our the office to the playground? Estimate the weight of a fire truck. How much does one gallon of water weigh? How long is your principal? – Estimate, then measure. How cold is it in Hawaii today? What is the difference

between our temperature and Hawaii’s temperature? Metric Units and conversion The Big “G” and “Gallon Guy” The temperature of the day in Olathe

The more the students measure, the better they get at estimating and measuring!

Experience measurement by measuring!