Alternative Measurement

Objectives

• Students will be able to use at least one nonstandard measuring device to approximate the size of an object.

Kit Contents

• Red Program Folder

• Books (in kit)
  • McCaughrean, Geraldine - My Grandmother’s Clock
  • Myller, Rolf - How Big is a Foot
    
• Equipment (in kit)
  • Lacing Beads:
    • 2 Laces
    • 48 Beads
  • Tape Measure

Lesson

• Program
  • Discuss the idea of measurement as a system to describe the size of something: a distance, an object, the passage of time.
  • Students should understand that a standardize system of measurement is a fairly recent development.
  • Discuss with the student some of the precursors to modern measuring techniques. (Ex. A foot being the King's foot, inch being three barley corns, etc. In ancient Egypt, about 3000 BC, the cubit was formed. The cubit was calculated from the length from the extended fingertips to the tip of the elbow and was used as a standard of linear measurements)
  • Compare how in America we use the inch pound system of measurement which is also known as the English system or customary system and the United States is the only major country using that system. People in other countries use the Metric system. The Metric system was created in France in 1790's.
  • King Henry I in 1220 defined a yard measurement was from the tip of his nose to the tip of his outstretched fingers (how many used this method today to measure a yard). An acre was defined by how much land an oxen could plow in a day.
  • In 1830 the construction of standards was begun by the Office of Standard Weights and Measures. In 1975 the United States Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, calling for a voluntary change over to the metric system, which is still resisted by most Americans.
  • Types of measuring tools:
    • 1. measuring spoons & cups – cooking
    • 2. rain gauge – measures rain
    • 3. thermometer – measuring temperature
    • 4. bathroom scales – human weight
    • 5. watch & clocks – time; clock for seconds, minutes, hours
    • 6. barometer – atmospheric pressure
    • 7. Others
  • Using hands, feet, beads, string; have students measure different objects and see how the numbers vary depending on what standard of measurement is being used.

 

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