How Many Inches, Feet, and Yards?

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  General Lesson Plan

• Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?

  
  

  The students will know that measurements can be taken of a given object(s) using different units if measure and will describe the relationship, based on the size of the units used for measurement.

  The students will be able to successfully operate a measuring device (long measuring tape) and successfully use the different units of measure on the tape to determine the given distances.

• Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?

  
  A basic understanding of units of measure to include inches, feet, and yards and how these units of measure can be identified on a measuring tape.

• Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?

  
  

  1. What relationships can you find between the measuring units used (inches, feet, and yards)? Why is one number greater than another? Could you predict which measurement unit would give you the greater number, before you measured? How did you know?

  2. What is the length of an official gymnasium basketball court from end-line to end-line (to be determined using length units of two different lengths).

  3. What is the width of an official gymnasium basketball court from sideline to sideline (to be determined using length units of two different lengths).

  4. What is the diagonal distance from corner to corner of an official basketball court (to be determined using length units of two different lengths).

  5. When taking the above measurements, which tool(s) do you think would be the most appropriate for the exercise (tools to include: ruler, yardstick, 300 foot measuring tape). Why?

• Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?

  
  

  The teacher asks, "Who has seen someone measuring something? What did the person measure and why?"

  While in the classroom the students will be informed that they will be performing a measuring task. The teacher will explain that the objects to be measured will be various dimensions of the basketball court displayed on the gymnasium floor. The students will be given the parts of the the court to be measured. The teacher will put the students in groups of 3 (groups to be designated by the teacher). The teacher will present to the class the materials needed to perform the task. Following the presentation of materials the teacher will assign groups and pass out the materials to be used. Upon arriving at the court the students will be told to begin taking measurements with the ruler provided to their group. After 5 minutes of measuring by the students the teacher will stop the measuring process and open a discussion with the class as to why or why not the ruler is an efficient measuring tool for this exercise. The teacher will then ask each group to resume measuring but to use the yardstick as the tool of choice. Again the teacher will allow five minutes to pass before opening the class for discussion on the use of the yardstick as a measuring tool for the exercise (better/worse, explain). For the remainder of the exercise each group will be given a 300 foot measuring tape (inch markings on the tape colored black and each foot marking colored red) to take the required measurements. Upon conclusion of the measuring activity the students will return to class and discuss the use/efficiency of each tool.

• Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?

  
  

  Using a long tape measure students will determine the length, width, and diagonal distance of the basketball court. These measurements will be notated on a given worksheet (12" x 8" piece of poster board). Inches, feet, and yards will be the units of measure to be used.

• Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the lesson?

  
  

  The teacher will choose other objects (tennis court) to be measured by the students (in the classroom or somewhere on campus). Prior to measuring, the students will predict the lengths of the objects (predictions to be made in units of inches, feet, and yards). Following the measurements students will compare them to their estimates and see how well they did.

• Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?

  
  Following the activity the students will return to the classroom, where they will have an opportunity to share their findings with the class. The teacher will collect the worksheets (12" X 8" poster board) and and make them visible to the class (tape to wall/board etc). The teacher will also display a worksheet of his/her own with the correct measurements to be used a a comparison to the students findings. The teacher will then open a discussion with the students to include any relationships found between the units of measure. The students will be required to save their work in a folder for future reference.

• Summative Assessment

  
  

  Students will individually measure the length of their step (a long step would be best) in inches and and then in feet and describe the relationship of the two measures, based on the size of the units used to make the measurement.

• Formative Assessment

  
  

  While sitting at their desks, the students will be instructed to take out a sheet of paper and number 1 - 5 on the paper. The students will then be asked 5 questions:

  1. Which is the smaller unit, an inch or a foot?
  2. Which is the smaller unit, a yard or a foot?
  3. Which is the greater unit, an inch or a yard?
  4. What tool could be used to measure the basketball court?
  5. What would be a unit of measure to use to measure the court? Why?

  By walking throughout the classroom and observing the answers, the teacher should get an idea of the students' knowledge and adjust the lesson to accommodate students who do not have this background knowledge.

• Feedback to Students

  
  The students will receive feedback from the teacher during the performance of the task. The teacher will walk throughout the area of study as the students work, giving feedback and asking guiding questions as necessary. The students will be able to use this feedback immediately.