The purpose of this unit is for students to practise selecting appropriate units for measurement and carrying out practical measuring tasks. The context is measuring various attributes of an orange.
Measurement is about expressing a quantity (e.g. 10 cm) for an attribute (e.g. length) being measured, using a number and the unit. Attributes of an object might include its length, temperature, or mass (weight).
The units used in New Zealand are metric units, which are found within the Standard International Units of measurement (SI units). An important feature of modern measurement systems is that the units have an accepted size, so measurements mean the same, irrespective of location in the world.
Common metric units used in New Zealand are:
The learning opportunities in this unit can be differentiated by providing or removing support to ākonga and by varying the task requirements. Ways to differentiate include:
The context for this unit is oranges. Since oranges are food, the context may not be appropriate for ākonga from some cultures. It is important that the oranges are not wasted and are ultimately used as food at the completion of the unit. Adaptations, such as those described below, can be made to the tasks to ensure the main objectives of the unit are retained.
Te reo Māori vocabulary terms such as mehua (measure), rita (litre), mitarau (centimetre), taumaha (weight), and ritamano (millilitre) could be introduced in this unit and used throughout other mathematical learning.
In this session ākonga discuss the attributes of an orange that could be measured.
This session is focussed around small groups of ākonga attempting to measure the attributes of an orange. The small groups could be organised startegically to encourage tuakana-teina. The measurements identified will be compiled into a class report on The Orange.
Below is a list of materials needed for each Investigation Station. Allocating ākongato different stations allows you to maximise the use of any equipment, particularly measurement scales and containers. Students should make sure that they record their results for each station. Instructions for each station are included in the Copymasters.
Ensure all ākonga abide by health and safety protocols while carrying out these investigations. This includes hand washing, equipment washing, having a safe and clean working environment, and the safe use of knives. Discuss this as a class before beginning the station investigations.
You will need:
You will need:
You will need:
You will need:
You will need:
During, or at the end of each session, gather the class to address learning needs that arise. The needs might be skills, such as reading scales on a measurement container or set of scales, conceptual, such as the connection between capacity measures and volume measures, or about managing tasks.
In this session, ākonga complete the write up of their Orange investigations, which are then compiled into a class report on The Orange. Collation of data affords opportunities for graphing and interpreting displays.
For example, the class might collect and display the weights for all the oranges. Since the data is measurement data, ākonga might use a dot plot or a stem and leaf plot to represent these data. The average can be interpreted in context as a measure of the centre of the distribution of weights. This graph was created using CODAP which is a freely available online graphing tool. Other digital tools such as Microsoft Excel or Google Maps could also be used. One type of average, the mean, is shown with the line.
Ensure you demonstrate how to use the graphing software or template you provide ākonga with. Provide clear expectations around what ākonga should write about their data (e.g. what is the mean, median, mode, highest and lowest quantities). Take into consideration the knowledge of statistics your ākonga already possess. You may need to plan some explicit teaching around interpreting the data.
Ākonga might select another attribute to investigate as a group over the last session. Students could compare these with existing world records. Examples might be:
Dear family and whānau,
This week we are investigating all the ways to measure an orange. At home this week ākonga are asked to select another fruit and do an independent measurement project. Please provide your child with a piece of fruit (not an orange - this is what we are using in class) to use for their investigation. Ask them to explain how they will find the volume and weight and what other measures they will explore. Try not to waste the fruit or vegetable so it can still be used as food.
Printed from https://meaningfulmaths.nt.edu.au/mmws/nz/resource/orange-you-glad at 8:45pm on the 26th February 2024