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August 19

Measurement is Big!

In Maths this term as part of Measurement and Geometry, we have been building our skills and knowledge around the idea of measurement. This isn’t as simple as using rulers to find out how tall your drink bottle is. They need to know how to use the tools or equipment to measure. They certainly need to know the language of measurement and that is broken up into many sections

  • the language of estimation
  • the language of what can be measured-objects, spaces, events
  • the language of attributes Linear -length, height, width, depth, diameter Mass, Capacity, Time, Temperature, Angle, Perimeter
  • the language of measuring tools standard and non
  • the language of units hefting– lighter/heavier, gm, kg, linear -mm,cm,m,km

 

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Before our investigation I wanted to know what knowledge the students are already familiar with. I gave them each a small cardboard prism/ box and asked them to record anything they knew or could do with that container to do with measurement.

 

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They had a surprising amount of information and it was clear we needed to clarify our ideas and misconceptions. We brainstormed what we thought measurement was.

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There was a lot of data which then needed to be sorted. In their teams they set about to find away to organise similar attributes or concepts under headings and sub headings.

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Their posters showed a lot of strong connections on which to build.

We began our investigation with looking at Linear Measurement, that’s bigger than it seems, particularly reading all the measuring devices with accuracy. One of our first activities was comparing lengths of body parts using tape measures. That was fun especially when our estimations were spot on.

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Measuring larger distances meant becoming familiar with trundle wheels. Here we threw a bean bag as far as we could, predicted the distance and then measured to see how our estimates went. With our team buddies to keep check we were striving for accuracy.trw trw1

We reckon we are almost experts at Linear measurement with all the practice we’ve had. We have also worked out how to find perimeter too. That we now know the distance around the boundary of a shape. There was some interesting connections with number as they realised there was no need to add four distances if the shape was a standard quadrilateral, for them doubling worked quicker. Now, will that always work? Think about it.

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We have realised there is still a lot for us to do and learn. So we are setting measurement goals. We want to explore capacity next week and we still need to check out our skills in reading, writing and making time in both analogue and digital clocks.I wonder if Dr Who has to work that hard to become a time lord?

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 Angles

We had a look at angles on Friday and learnt that angles are the rotation of a line that is joined at a vertex or spot. It’s important that we remember how to tell the difference between the different types.

 

 

It was fun using semi protractors to measure the distance these lines have moved. We need to remember to place the 0° on the first line and get the cross hairs exactly on the vertex. Not as easy as it looks. Then we need to be able to read the divisions on the protractor. What a challenge! We need to strive for accuracy in this task.

Measurement is big, there is lots to think about.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

We have continued to learn skills in measurement by investigating the mass of objects.

Mass  The amount of matter contained in an object.

Units of mass;

gram   g

kilogram   kg

tonne   t

1000g = 1 kg

1000 kg = 1 t

We found out that the word weight is often used incorrectly to describe mass, so we made it our priority to use the correct language.

We enjoyed experimenting with different types of scales to find the mass of similar objects an compared the readings. We noticed that the same object may give a different amount. Why was that? As we continued to estimate different the masses of objects, our estimations became  more accurate. We found that hefting objects, lifting it in our hands to judge the mass, was a good way to estimate the mass rather than just looking at it.

Sadly, Ellen forgot to capture images of our mass investigations ( she’s new to Blogging and keeps forgetting!)

 

But we did manage to repeat the original task that we started with . I gave all the students the same box and asked them to use all their new measuring skills to describe what they could record for that box.

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I thought these work samples showed a lot of new learning for measurement and included clear mathematical thinking, planning and the language of measurement. The samples may be hard to read but trust me, you guys worked very mathematically Bravo.

 

So how do you feel about your time skills, will you be a Time Lord?

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We spent most of last week learning all the different ways to read and make the time in both digital and analog. Now sometimes reading time can be confusing but in time and with lots of practice it makes sense. This may help.

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Time is running out for learning time, we’ll have to learn time on the run because we need to move on.

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Have you been noticing how many times you actually have to estimate and measure throughout the day?

We thought measurement was big who would have thought it was this big.

Now the Show is coming up is there any Maths there?

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Posted August 19, 2015 by elleneisenkolb15 in category Maths/Numeracy, Team work

1 thoughts on “Measurement is Big!

  1. oscar

    hi guys how on earth is measurement so big.I read all of it and my mind was blown dose anyone else think measurement is big?

    Reply

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