MATHEMATICS
Leslie Dickie, Melanie Johnston,
Mellissa Maingot and Becky Thompson
TOPIC:
Measuring with Melons and Seeds, in Standard and Non-Standard units
GRADE:
One or Two
MATERIALS:
Students
- Melons for 5 groups
Paper towels
- Plates
- Spoons
- Buckets of soapy
water
- Newspapers (to
cover desks)
- String
- Scissors
- Measuring Tape
and Ruler
- Other types of
fruit
- Three Various non-standard
items to be used by children: Paper clips, pennies and plastic people
|
Teacher
- Knife
- Demonstration Melon
|
SAFETY NOTES:
The Teacher will cut melons
after estimates are made. Teacher keeps the knife.
LESSON EXPECTATIONS:
By the end of the lesson,
the student will be able to:
- Conduct an inquiry.
- Represent the results
of measurement activities using concrete materials.
- Demonstrate that a non-standard
unit is used repeatedly to measure
- (use hands to measure
around melon).
- Select an appropriate
non-standard unit to measure length.
- Estimate, measure and
record the linear dimensions of the melon, on a worksheet.
- Teacher to record data
on a graph from each group, to help student’s read graphs and measure the
differences in findings.
MENTAL SET:
- Introduce standard and
non-standard units of measure.
- Get a child to measure
the length of the carpet or floor tiles using their feet.
- "Let’s find out how big
the room is by measuring with our feet." Have students count along while a
student measures the length of the room using their feet.
- Introduce the concept
of estimate or guess.
- Hold up a few fruits
and vegetables and ask children ways we might measure them using standard
and non-standard measure.
- Measure using various
objects, then measure using a measuring tape. Encourage discussion and understanding
of non-standard and standard units.
Input:
- Place students, in groups,
based on the teacher’s prior knowledge of student strengths and weaknesses.
- Once students have made
measurements with standard and non-standard units on their worksheet, the
teacher will ask if the measurements were close. Then ask what did students
use for their estimate/guess?
- Have children measure
around the melon using their hands.
- Next have children measure
with a string to place non-standard units along and record.
- Next the teacher will
cut open the melons for each group. Children can use spoons or their fingers
to scoop out the seeds.
- Estimate the length of
10 seeds using a non-standard unit (hand, foot, paper clips, dolls, pennies.)
- Then measure seeds using
a standard unit (ruler). Were student’s estimates correct? Are all seeds the
same size? Could this affect the answers of other groups?
- The teacher will graph
group answers to compare measurements and encourage further exploration of
measurement.
Practice:
- Measure something using
your hands at home and then measure it with a measuring tape or ruler to compare.
Bring in your answers tomorrow.
Check for understanding
:
- Go around the room during
the activity and ask questions
- Check worksheet.
- Stop students at one
point and ask each group to provide one of their answers. The teacher will
use this as an opportunity to draw upon the strengths of answers and help
students who might be struggling to get answers from the group.
- Ask students what other
things we could measure using these methods.
- The teacher will check
with students to discover strategies they used to guess the number as a group
and how they worked together as a group to count the seeds.
Closure:
- Each student in the group
will be assigned a task in the clean up process.
- Then the teacher will
slice up the melon and serve it to each child as a snack. While the children
eat, the teacher can use this time to ask additional questions to reinforce
learning or work into a unit on health and nutrition.
Follow-up:
- There are many other
objects the teacher might use to do this activity with such as oranges, pumpkins,
watermelons, a box of raisins, etc.
- The activity could extend
into comparing the amount of seeds in two different fruits, such as an apple
and an orange.
- Students could begin
measuring fruits and vegetables with various objects to do comparisons.
- Students could look at
the seasons, when to plant seeds, and when to harvest vegetables. Use a planting
activity and measure the plant’s growth.
Worksheet
Name _________________ Date
_______
Non-Standard Measurement:
Measure around the melon.
--- Amount: ______________
List three methods:
____________ ______
____________ ______
____________ ______
Now measure with a tape
measure.
How big around is the Melon:
_____________
Place ten seeds in a row.
What object will you use to measure the seeds? _________________
How many objects did your
group use to measure the seeds: __________
Now measure the ten seeds
with a ruler.
Your answer: __________
Homework
Standard and Non-Standard
Units of Measure
Name: _________________Date:
__________
Find an object at home to
measure using your feet and then use a ruler or tape measure to check the measurement
of the object?
Name of object ___________
Answer using your feet:
__________
Answer using a ruler or
measuring tape: _________
What other parts of your
body could you use to measure with? ___________________________________________
Parent’s Signature:_____________________
Lesson Extensions and Integration
with Other Subjects:
1.
Nutrition/health
Working with fruits such as melons can lead to a discussion about the four food
groups and healthy diets.
2. Social Studies
Working with standard and
non-standard units of measurement can lead to a discussion about what people
from other parts of the world use to measure with (i.e., standard units of measurement
can vary from country to country, such as the Metric or Imperial system, or
the Abacus).
3. Language
Reading stories and poems
relating to measurement can provide another context for students’ understanding
of this topic.
4. Music
Students can learn and sing
the song "Inchworm." This can be tied to a discussion about other systems of
measurement, such as the Imperial system, for students unfamiliar with the concept
of "inch."
5. Art
Students can make a "centimetre
worm" out of Plasticine, clay, cardboard, or other rigid materials. They can
make their "centimetre worm" ten centimetres long (because the metric system
is based on tens) and use it to measure with.