LESSON PLAN (Linda Bolin)
Lesson Title: Measurement Benchmarks and Conversions
Course: Pre-Algebra
Date: December Lesson 4
Utah State Core Content and Process Standards:
2.2a
Solve a wide variety of problems using ratios and proportional reasoning
a) 4.1a Convert units of measure within the same system
Lesson Objective(s): Select appropriate units of measure using benchmarks. Convert
measures within a system
Enduring Understanding
(Big Ideas)
Measurement is an essential
life skill
Skill Focus:
Selecting units for
measurement
Converting measurements
Essential Questions:
• What common objects can be used to suggest units of
measurement?
• Why is it important to compare measures using the same
type of unit? (Ex. Inches to inches rather than inches to
feet)
• How can I convert from one unit of measure to another?
Vocabulary Focus:
measurement benchmark, convert measures
Metric units: gram, liter, meter, deka, kilo, deci, centi, milli,
Standard units: ounce, pound, Ton, cup, pint, quart, gallon,
inch, foot, yard, mile
convert measures
Materials:
• Soda can, and 3 or 4 other common objects. Objects for measurement benchmarks
• Smart Pal and capacity masters from the Smart Pal book, ruler, weights
• TI-73’s for each student.
• Converting Measures foldable pages for each student
• Worksheets: Metric and Customary Benchmarks worksheet.
• State Class Reference Sheet for Pre-Algebra
Assessment (Traditional/Authentic): performance, questioning
Ways to Gain/Maintain Attention (Primacy): coop activity, guessing and checking,
graphic organizers, writing, technology, music
Written Assignment:
Journal: Measurement graphic organizer from board, Foldable: Converting Measures
Worksheet: Metric and Customary Benchmarks
Truth or Dare Game
Appropriate text practice for using proportions for conversions.
Post measurement vocabulary in a graphic organizer on the board (see
attached).
Post these questions on the board: 1. What is its length? 2. How much
does it weigh? 3. What is its capacity? ( How much will it hold) 4. What is
its purpose?
Content Chunks
Starter:
Start a journal page. Title it “Measurement”. Copy the vocabulary mind map
neatly on the journal page.
(see attached graphic organizer)
Lesson Segment 1: What common objects can be used to suggest units of
measurement?
Ask students to mix around the room until you say “freeze”. The person closest
to them becomes their partner. If no partner is immediately available they hold their
hand up high and look for another hand up to be their partner. Have them introduce
themselves to each other. Have them arrange themselves so that the partner with
the most pets is facing the teacher and the other partner is standing back to back with
their back facing the teacher. Tell them the facing-the-teacher partner will be
describing an object and the back-to-teacher partner will be guessing what it is. Tell
the facing-teacher partner to look at the questions you have posted on the board.
They must use these for their clues to get the partner to guess the object. Hold up a
soda can or other common object and have them give their clues. Then, have the
partners change position, so the guesser now becomes the clue-giver. Have them
look at the questions on the board to guide their clues. Hold up a second object.
After this activity, ask the students which of the clues were difficult for them to
give. Ask if any used metric measurements. Ask about how many cm the soda can
is? Ask about how many gm it weighs when full and how many ml it will hold. These
will be more difficult for the students to answer. Point out that this is because they do
not regularly use metric units to measure. Read the “Metric Versus Customary”
poem.
Teach students the following song. As you sing each verse, choose one or two
of the units for a stand and point activity. You will say a unit, for example
“centimeter”, and have the students stand and point to something in the room that
could be measured using a centimeter. Ask a couple of students to tell what they are
pointing at. Ask them why the centimeter would be better than trying to use a
millimeter or kilometer to measure the object they are pointing to. Repeat this Stand
And Point activity for each verse choosing one or two units for students to think
about.
Knowing which system of measurement and which unit of measurement would
be best to use is a vital skill. Selecting appropriate units can be more easily done if we
can think of a common object to compare the measurements to. We call this common
object a “measurement benchmark”.
Work with students to complete the “Measurement: Metric and Customary
Common Benchmarks” worksheet, showing some of the objects to the class to help
them a visual. You may want to use the capacity pages in the Smart Pal masters
book, a ruler, meter stick, some weights, etc for student reference.
Lesson Segment 2: Why is it important to compare measures using the same
type of unit? (Ex. Inches to inches rather than inches to feet)
Journal: Give each student a copy of the State Class Reference Sheet that can be
used on the CRT tests. Students should keep this reference sheet in their journal for
future use.
Hand a student a regular size Hershey candy bar and you hold up a 1lb.
Hershey bar. Tell the student can have it if theirs weighs more than yours. Have
them read the weight on their package to the class and you look at yours and say,
“Oh, no! Mine says it weighs only 1. Q. Why is this not an accurate comparison?
Have two students come to the front of the class. Choose one that is about 6 ft.
tall, and another much shorter. Use the ruler to measure the taller in feet and the
shorter in inches and declare, “_______ (the shorter person) is the taller of the two.”
When the class disagrees, defend by telling them how many inches. Q. Why is this
not an accurate comparison?
Obviously, when we are comparing, we need to use the same unit of measure.
So, in order to compare, we must often convert units. We could use a Foldable to
help us, a proportion, or we could use the graphing calculator. We will learn how to
use each of these tools.
Foldable: Fold the Converting Measures foldable so that the type of measure is a
pocket inside a folder. Staple or tape the edges of the pocket. Cut out each
measurement card. Help the students use the convert feature on the TI-73 and how
to use a proportion to fill in the information on the cards. (In a proportion, one ratio
is the number of smaller units in 1 of the larger units. The other is the information
given and a variable). Have them practice a few with you.
Staple or glue folded pocket to edge here.
TI-73: Use the - < to convert measures. From the home screen type the
number of units given. Push - < and select the type of measurement and the
unit of measure given. Then select the unit of measure to convert to and press b.
The home screen organizes the information so students can determine the scale factor
used to convert the units. For example asking what 3
was multiplied by to get 108 in this example, will
help students find the scale factor.
Lesson Segment 3: Practice
Game: Truth or Dare
In this game questions are posted for the class to see or students are given a
page of questions to answer. They may check with their team members for any they
are not sure of. Once they have had a few minutes to check with team members, the
teacher selects someone from the class to challenge another class member to, “Tell
the truth, or take the dare!” The challenger asks one of the questions from the list.
The student who was selected to tell the truth or take the dare must tell the truth
about the problem or do a dare. The challenger dares the person to do something
(that is not illegal, immoral, or extreme) such as sing Mary Had a Little Lamb, or do 5
jumping jacks. The teacher, of course, has the final say as to whether a dare is
appropriate or not. (Kids love this game). See the attached “Truth or Dare” page for
examples. Students should be able to use their foldables or calculators since they are
not required to memorize conversions.
Assign additional text practice where proportions can be used for converting units as
needed.
Measurement Units Song
(To Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
Lyrics by Linda Bolin)
Inch and foot and yard and mile
Distance measured with a smile
Centimeter, meter too,
Kilometer. How long are you?
Ounce and pound and ton, Oh please
Weigh it all with one of these
Milligram and gram will do,
Kilogram. How heavy are you?
Ounce and cup, pint, quart and gallon
Fill you up ‘til you are howlin’
Millileter, liter too
Fill ‘er up! How full are you?
Measurement
Metric
Customary
Distance
Weight
inch
ounce
foot
pound
yard
mile
ton
Capacity
ounce
Distance
meter 1
Weight
gram 1
cup
milli 0.001
pint
centi 0.01
quart
deci 0.1
gallon
Unit 1
deka 10
hecto 100
kilo 1000
Capacity
liter 1
Measurement: Metric and Customary
Common Benchmarks
Name ______________
Date__________
For each unit of measure in the table below, give another real world example.
Unit
Type
and
of
symbol
measure
Distance Centimeter
Length;
cm
Move
across it
(0.01 meters)
METRIC
Relation to Common
Objects or Events
1. A paper clip is about 1
centimeter wide and 3
centimeters long
2. An unsharpened pencil is about
20 centimeters long
1. A full-size automobile is about
two meters wide.
100 centimeters 2. Most classroom doors are about
one meter wide.
Meter
m
kilometer
km
(1,000 meters)
Weight
Pick it up
Gram
gm
1. Two small paper clips weighs
about a gram
2. A nickel or a marble weighs
about 5 grams
Kilogram
km
1. The average weight of a
newborn baby is 3 – 4
kilograms
2. A pair of men’s shoes weighs
about one kilogram.
Liter
L
1. Four average glasses hold
about 1 liter of liquid.
2. The gas tank of a full-size
automobile holds about 90
liters.
1. Water freezes at 0 °
(1,000 grams)
Volume/
Capacity
Fill it up
Temp
Warm it up
1. 100 telephone poles end to end
would extend about a
kilometer.
2. A kilometer is a little more than
half a mile.
Degrees
Celsius
C
2. A comfortable room is about
21°
Another Real
World examples:
Type of
Unit and
Measure
symbol
Distance Inch
Length;
in or “
Move
across it
Foot
ft or ‘
(12 in)
Yard
yd
(3 ft)
Weight
Pick it up
1. A ruler is one foot long
2. A Math book is about a foot from
top to bottom.
1. From nose to tip of fingers on the
outstretched arm of an average
man is about a yd.
2. The marked yard lines on a
football field are 10 yards apart
1. If walking briskly, an adult can
walk a mile in 20 minutes.
2. A mile is about a hundred football
fields from goal post to goal post.
Ounce
oz
1. An average sized Snicker candy
bar weighs about 5 ounces.
2. A 50 cent piece weighs about half
an oz.
1. Two large apples weigh about a
pound.
2. An average newborn baby weighs
between 7 and 8 pounds.
(16 oz)
Ton
T
Volume/ Ounce
Capacity oz
Fill it up
Quart
qt.
(32 oz)
Warm it up
Relation to Common
Objects
or Events
1. A quarter is about an inch across
the middle (diameter).
2. A graphing calculator is about 7”.
Mile
mi
(5,280 ft.)
Pound
lb
Temp
Customary
1. 10 average men weigh about a
Ton.
2. A small car weighs about a Ton.
1. A soda can holds 12 oz.
2. Your mouth can hold about 2
ounces.
1. A large drink at a convenience
store holds about a quart.
2. An average pitcher holds 2 quarts.
Gallon
gal
(4 quarts)
1. A gallon of chocolate milk serves
about 12 people.
2. An average home fish tank holds
about 20 gallons of water.
Degrees
Fahrenheit
F
1. Water freezes at 32°.
2. A comfortable room is about 72°.
Another Real
World Examples
Customary versus Metric
“A pint is a pound the world around,”
“It’s a cinch by the inch” don’t you know?
If it’s “hard by the yard” then should we not discard
An old system that’s awkward and slow?
“A meter is neater” the world will declare,
While the liter floods over the earth.
The kilogram surely is choice of the masses,
The decimal has infinite worth.
A system of order; a system of sense;
Who would want to use anything less?
But I’m used to ounces and gallons and cups,
So I guess I’ll put up with the mess.
By Nancy Oliver
Truth Or Dare
Measurement
Name ___________
Date ______
1. A unit of measure for finding the length of a pencil
could be a(n) ____.
2. _____ is a word for a unit of measure that is common
for both capacity and for weight.
3. A unit of measure for capacity in the metric system is
called a_________.
4. Two systems of measures are _________ and ______.
5. There are ________ milligrams in a gram.
6. The metric system for measures is based on multiples
of _____.
7. A ____ is the customary unit for measuring a great
distance, while a ___ is the metric unit.
8. To convert liters to kiloliters, multiply liters by ____.
9. To measure the weight of a marble, you should use
a(n) _____.
10.
3 yards is equivalent to _____ feet?
11.
500 cm is equivalent to _____ meters?
12.
A gallon is equivalent to ____ quarts or ____ cups.
13.
4.5 liters is _____ milliliters.
14.
2 weeks is ____ hours.
Metric
WEIGHT (MASS)
Metric
DISTANCE
Unit
Example
Equivalency
Unit
Equivalency
1 milligram
1 millimeter
1 gram
1 centimeter = _____ millimeters
1 meter
= _____ centimeters
=
1 kilogram =
_____ milligrams
_____ grams
1 Metric ton = _____ kilograms
1 kilometer = ____ meters
Metric
CAPACITY
Unit
Equivalency
1 milliliter
1 liter
=
______ milliliters
1 kiloliter
=
______ liters
TIME
___ seconds = 1 min
___ months = 1 yr
___ minutes = 1 hr
___ weeks = 1 yr
___ hours
= 1 day
_____ days = 1 yr
___ days
= 1 wk
Metric
TEMPERATURE
0° =
21 ° =
37 ° =
100 ° =
freezing
a very pleasant day temperature
normal body temperature
boiling
Customary
DISTANCE
Unit
Equivalency
Customary
WEIGHT
Unit
Equivalency
1 ounce
1 inch
1 foot
=
____ inches
1 yard
=
____ feet
____ inches
1 mile
=
______ yards
_______ feet
________ inches
1 pound
=
1 ton
=
Customary
CAPACITY
Unit
Equivalency
1 ounce
1 cup
=
___ fluid ounces
1 pint
=
___ fluid ounces
___ cups
1 quart =
1 gallon =
___ fluid ounces
___ cups
___ pints
_____ fluid ounces
____ cups
___ pints
___quarts
____ ounces
______ pounds
__________ ounces
TIME
___ seconds = 1 min
___ months = 1 yr
___ minutes = 1 hr
___ weeks = 1 yr
___ hours
= 1 day
_____days = 1 yr
___ days
= 1 wk
Customary
TEMPERATURE
32 ° =
72 ° =
98.6 ° =
212 ° =
freezing
a very pleasant day temperature
normal body temperature
boiling