Hence today we'll make rulers.
Here's what we'll do.
1. I cut a number of 4-inch yellow cardboard rectangles and 12 inch wide strips of white paper. Each child will get 3 yellow cardboard rectangles and one piece of white paper.
2. We'll start with one 4-inch yellow cardboard. First we'll fold it in half, and then we'll fold it in half again. We'll discuss what we see and how one can describe it (4ths, two halves, 4 parts, equal parts. . . .).
3. Then we'll take that yellow piece of cardboard and make it a 4 inch ruler. We'll mark each inch with a long blue line, and each half inch with a middle-sized red line, and each quarter inch with green, and each eighth with orange. We'll write in the numbers 0,1,2,3,4 to designate the inches, and then we'll paste that yellow cardboard piece to the beginning of the 12-inch white paper.
4. We'll repeat with the second piece of yellow paper, and the only difference will be that we'll paste the paper down next to the first piece before writing the numbers (5,6,7,8) so students see how it fits on the ruler line.
5. Finally we'll do the same with the third piece of yellow cardboard (9,10,11,12).
6. Then we'll analyze: How many numbers? How many red marks--what does that mean? How many orange and green marks--what does that tell us about the ruler? Is our ruler the same as a standard ruler, why or why not? Who knows why they came up with standard measurements anyways? Then some reflection in our math books.
Tonight students will measure with an online ruler using That Quiz, and tomorrow we'll work a bit more with a standard ruler. I think this exercise will bring children one step closer to understanding measurement, fractions, multiples and factors. Let's see.
