Newsletter: Measuring Up!

As the kids have continued to collect information for their animal research projects, I've been thinking it might be a neat experience to create scale models of these animals for our classroom to help us get a better idea of the size relationships between each of them. I'm planning for them to create a half-size model of the animal using paper materials in the classroom. To prepare for this work, we have been focusing on measurement in our math workshop this week.

We began by brainstorming all the things we can think of that are measurable. After generating a list, we sorted these into different categories. So far we have things that are sized (clothes, baseball gloves), measured linearly (tables, people, TV screens), and measured in terms of force or speed (severe storms, gravity, rate of typing/writing).

After generating these lists we launched an exploration of linear measurement. We began by using measuring tapes to find various dimensions of our bodies. Not only did this offer us the opportunity to talk about measuring to the nearest inch but we also learned the differences between length, width, and height. Of course, terms such as these are relative to perspective and positioning.

Measuring from shoulder to  wrist

Measuring from shoulder to shoulder

Also measuring from shoulder to shoulder but from the other side

The kids recorded their measurements. This was important because they would need to revisit this data later.

After they collected their measurements, I asked them to find the half-value of each. Some numbers were easy - such as six - but other numbers were more difficult. This was generally because the numbers were larger or because they were odd numbers. 

Using blocks helped them see what was happening when dividing odd numbers in half. It resulted in a left over than needed to be accounted for.

This brought us to the fractional value 1/2. 

They recorded their results on the same sheet they had collected their measurements.

Once all measurements were taken and the half-values were calculated, the kids went back and double-checked all their work. They found a number of inaccuracies and worked to corrected these. With more reliable data in hand it was time to put these numbers to work for us. In preparation for creating half-size models of their animals I decided to have them create half-size models of themselves. This allowed us to have a shared experience from which to learn - providing the support we will need for our work on the animals next week.

I used Eli's numbers to model how this worked and wrote out each of my steps as I completed them. This became the instructional model for the project. The kids then went out and began creating their "half-sized me." There were lots of questions and miscues along the way. We're still working through many of these. However, we know this is to be expected when learning to do something new. If we don't have questions or aren't making mistakes then we probably aren't challenging ourselves to grow and learn as much as we could.

The class example I created from Eli's measurements

Lending a helping hand

Olivia's sketch as created from her half-size measurements

Once these are completed the kids will spend a day or two personalizing them to match their skin and hair color (as close as possible with the colors we have available) as well as their clothing. This will take us into next week where we will begin a similar process with the measurements we have researched on each of our animals. I hope to have the kids share these as part of our next Gathering. That is not until December but it never hurts to be prepared ahead of time. We are hosting Gathering the same day as our Passing of the Cans and I'm planning to focus our learning celebration on measurement. This will allow us incorporate the food collection nicely as we count, weigh, and calculate food servings from all that is collected.

Next week I will share our work with our animal research projects. We will soon be using our research notes to create a non-fiction book to share out with the school. We will have an Expert Project Share Fair and, of course, you are invited. It is still weeks away so we don't have a date in mind just yet. But we'll let you know!

Thanks,
Chris