Measure with Unusual Units

Teacher: What are the different units we have used in this lesson?

Students: (feet, links, connecting cubes, paper clips, etc.)

Teacher: Is there anything that we could say is the same about all these different units?

Jerome: Most are little.

Teacher: Yes, most were smaller than the object we measured. What else?

Linda: We measured with them.

Teacher: That's right; we used them all to measure the length of something, such as our desks or the floor from my desk to the door. Anything else?

Shannon: We put them in a line and counted them all and we couldn't get mixed up or we had to start over.

Teacher: Yes, with all the different units, we had to follow our rules of "advice" on our chart paper. Good. Now, did you think some were easier to use than others?

Michael: I liked using feet the best. It was fun.

Teacher: Why was it fun, Michael?

Michael: Because I had to walk in baby steps and count. It was easier.

Jessie: But I kept falling over and I walked into Lee Yah. And then I forgot my steps, so I had to start over.

Teacher: So sometimes it was hard to stay in a straight line using your feet. Did anyone have the same problem with other units we used?

Ana: It was hard to make a straight line with paper clips.

Frank: Connecting cubes were easy. All I did was make a straight train and count. But I couldn't count to the door; it would be too many.

Teacher: That's another problem, isn't it, Frank? Units that are small would be harder to use if you were measuring something big.