In Math this week, we are exploring the answer to this and other questions about measurement. We began our unit with an activity called How Many Hearts. Each student was asked to cut out a construction paper heart and use it to measure various items found in the classroom. When we got back together to discuss our findings, we discovered a huge problem! None of our answers were the same. I measured the crayon box to be two hearts long. However when Eli measured it, he got 12. How can that be right? After much discussion, we came to the conclusion that hearts are not good measuring tools. Why, you might ask. Our hearts were not the same size. Therefore, all our measurements were different. Hearts were a non-standard unit of measurement.
On Tuesday, we explored measurement again. Due to Monday's discovery of differing measurements, we decided we would all use the same thing. We chose paper clips. All the paper clips were the same size. It was a standard measurement because each tool used to measure was the same length. Here are a few photos of our measuring adventure.
Today, we used a ruler to measure. Our unit of measurement was inches. Students commented that using a ruler was easier than paper clips. The paper clips moved around a bit and were hard to keep straight when measuring.
What will tomorrow bring?
