Monday, April 13, 2015

Measurement Fun with First Grade!

In Math, we have been learning about measurement.  We have been focusing on the importance of using standard units of measure when we measure something.  As luck would have it, Mrs. Putz's first graders have been working on the same thing and they visited our classroom to help us learn why using standard units of measure are important.


Mrs. Putz's class read the story "How Big is a Foot?" by Rolf Myller.  Then they acted it out for us.  The actors did an excellent job!


After the story, we paired up with a first grade partner and using our own feet, we measured the distance to places in our classroom.  For example, how many steps is it to Mrs. Kurt's desk?  The sink? The window?  We got our papers and set out to work.


We quickly discovered something…our numbers did not necessarily match!  How could that be since we were all counting our footsteps?

   

   


   

You see, we learned that our feet are different sizes.  If you have a larger foot, it takes you fewer footsteps to get from place to place.  And if you have a smaller foot, it takes more footsteps to get from one place to another.

This activity was great for a couple of reasons…the first graders helped us to understand that using a standard unit of measure is important to gather accurate information.  It is also really fun to see what first graders get to do because we will be first graders someday!

Thanks to Mrs. Putz and her awesome first graders for hanging out with us and doing this great activity with us!





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