Measuring Physical Attributes
Skill: Choosing Measurement Tools
Can your students choose the correct measuring tool for the information
they want to collect? Here are two ways to check for their understanding:
1. Place physical objects such as books, pencils, containers of water,
toys,and balloons on one table. Place a variety of measurement tools
such as rulers, tape measures, meter sticks, trundle wheels, thermometers,
graduated cylinders, beakers, bathroom scales, spring scales,and pH
paper on another table. Ask students to pick an appropriate measurement
tool to gather information about the physical objects.
2. Ask your students questions such as these:
Exploration: Measurement in Our Daily Lives
Have students list measurements they see during their day.
Example: How many measurements can they see on the dashboard of a car?
Web Resources for Exploring Measurement of Physical Attributes:
Math in Daily Life
Your Weight
on Different Worlds (Exploratorium Web Site)
Picking Unit Size
Skill: Choosing the Appropriate Unit Size to Measure a Physical Attribute
Give your students opportunities to pick the correct units to measure
a variety of real objects.
Standard and Nonstandard Measurement
Skill: Can your students tell the difference between standard and nonstandard
measurement?
Web Resources for Standard Measurement Systems:
How Many?-A Dictionary
of Units of Measurement
About Temperature
Converting Units
Skill: Can your students convert units from one measurement system to
another?
Web Resource for Converting Units:
Convert-me.com
