The process of measuring: 

FIRST students decide on the attribute to be measured.

SECOND Select a unit that has that attribute. 

THIRD Compare the units—by filling, covering, matching, or using some other method—with the attribute of the object being measured. The number of units required to match the object is the measure.

***It is essential to make meaning of the measuring process or activity students are partaking in. 

 “The skill of measuring with a unit must be explicitly linked to the concept of measuring as a process of comparing attributes, using measuring units and using measuring instruments.”

 It is important to keep in mind that often when measuring length, width, height, weight, etc. direct comparisons can be made more easily, but when dealing with measurements such as volume or mass other methods of comparison may need to be done in order to compare to objects or things. 

Standard units of measurement: 

Non- standard units of measurement: 

EXAMPLES:                                                                                       

   |   Standard     |   Nonstandard    
   |   One Foot      |     long paper strips         
   |   Ruler             |   straws    
   |   Yard stick     |   Tissue boxes   
                              |   Shoe 

1. Help students learn strategies by having them first try a specified approach. Later activities should permit students to choose whatever techniques they wish. 

2. Discuss how different students made their estimates. This will confirm that there is no single right way to estimate while reminding students of other useful approaches. 

3. Accept a range of estimates. Think in relative terms about what is a good estimate. Within 10 percent for length is reasonable. Even 30 percent “off” may be reasonable for weights or volumes.

 4. Do not promote a “winning” estimate. This discourages estimation and promotes only seeking the exact answer. 

5. Encourage students to give a range of estimates that they believe includes the actual measure. For example, the door is between 7 and 8 feet tall. This not only is a practical approach in real life but also helps focus on the approximate nature of estimation.

 6. Make measurement estimation an ongoing activity. Post a daily measurement to be estimated. Students can record their estimates and discuss them in a five-minute period. Older students can take turns determining the daily measurements to estimate, with individuals or a team assigned this task each week. 

7. Be precise with your language. Do not use the word measure interchangeably with the word estimate (Towers & Hunter, 2010). Randomly substituting one word for the other will cause uncertainty and possibly confusion in students.

It tends to be the first attribute students learn to measure.

Begin teaching students with direct comparison models, once students have a good understanding you can move on to indirect comparison models. 

·      Measuring from the wrong end of the ruler or beginning at 1 instead of 0

·       Counting the hash marks rather than the spaces (units)

·      Not aligning two objects when comparing them

·      Switching between cm and inches on a ruler 

 

1.     Units must be equal in length or you cannot iterate them by counting.

2.      Units must align with the length being measured or a different quantity is measured. 

3.      Units must be placed without gaps or a part of the length is not measured.

4.      Units must be placed without overlaps or the length has portions that are measured more than one time.  

The relationship between area and perimeter are a continual source of confusion for students. Perimeter is a third grade standard, but only 71% of eighth graders accurately identified the perimeter of a given shape. When developing formulas for area it is important to recognize these common two misconceptions:

The formulas for rectangles, parallelograms, triangles and trapezoids are as follows:

The relationship between the circumference of a circle and the length of the diameter is one of the seventh grade state standards. The circumference of every circle is about 3.14 times as long as the diameter. This introduces pi (3.14...) to students, and allows them to discover the areas of circles. The formula for finding the area of a circle is: π(r)^2.

All of these formulas can be related back to the single concept of base x height.

Pre-k – comparing height, weight and capacity 

fourth grade- measuring using an inch ruler

Grade unspecified 

1-2 grade 

grade unidentified