Learning About Measuring in Math

As an introduction to the wide range of tools, materials, and activities involved in measuring, the children enjoyed looking around their homes in search of a measuring tool to bring in the show the class. We had tape measures, measuring cups and spoons, medicine syringes, a food scale, a ruler, and a timer. Mrs. Minke brought out a bath scale, a thermometer, a shoe measure, and a yardstick to share, also. We talked about the names of each item, where it would usually be found, and what it could measure. Each student wrote about the tool they bought in and how it was used. The tools were placed in a Measuring Tool Museum and the writing pieces were displayed on the bulletin board near the museum. The children had fun exploring the measuring tools, especially the retractable tape measures.

Ava explores measuring time.

Our first focus for measuring is to the measure length. We have been measuring both how long and tall things are with non-standard items. First we used teddy bear counters. We placed them in lines and counted how long the lines were. Next, we used our hands to measure various pieces of furniture in our classroom. Today we are finding objects in our classroom and recording those that are as tall as our chins, knees, and waists. We will also be comparing the heights of our classmates and recording those that are taller, shorter, and the same heights as the different children. We will discover how many steps it takes to  measure the distance between different locations in our classroom and on campus.

Brianna and Lili measure with teddy bear counters.

Noah and Briana measure with hand lengths.

Next, we will introduce using items such as toothpicks, blocks, and paper clips to measure the width of the tables in the classroom. Later, we will use rulers to draw straight lines and for our measuring activities, as well as measuring tapes.

Measuring is a real world application for writing numbers, number recognition, and  counting skills. It is also a great review of using numbers over 10.