AuSable Primary Math Resources

• Understand measurable attributes
  
• Apply techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements
  

The primary goal of this activity is for students to use paper clips as a measurement tool to associate objects with their length in paper clips.

What mathematical content is being learned (or intended to be learned)?

 Students develop their knowledge of measurement of length.

Is the focus on instrumental or relational understanding?

• instrumental understanding (carrying out procedures)
• relational understanding (understanding the meaning of mathematical words and symbols; connections among ideas)

This activity asks students to measure with paper clips and record their answers.  To be successful, they will need to have some experience with the procedure of measuring with objects.

What role does technology play?

 

The technology mimics the type of activity students do in a classroom.  It does add additional vertical lines to assist students in placement (and has them sized to exact lengths, leaving out the issue of 1/2 paper clips).

What instructional function(s) does the resource serve?

• practice (i.e., practicing skills or knowledge already learned)
• direct instruction/explanation (i.e., explaining or presenting content to students)
• learning through exploration (i.e., provides context in which students can see new relationships; come to new understandings)

This activity provides practice for students once they understand how to place objects end to end for purposes of measurement.

What kinds of representations of the mathematics are used?

• symbolic (i.e., numerals, symbols)
• graphical (i.e., standard graphical notation such as Cartesian (X-Y) coordinate system, bar graph, pie chart)
• visual/spatial (e.g., circles or squares with lines to show fractions)
• concrete or real-world objects (e.g., images of base-10 blocks, puppies, or jars)
• dynamic (mathematical ideas represented through motion or sound)

The real-world objects, paper-clips, mimic an activity students often do in a classroom.  Real world objects, such as glue and pencils, are the objects being measured.