Page 72 - Demo

Lesson 34: Grobby measures with bricksA non-standard unit is any item that can be used to measure something e.g. a paper clip, finger spaces or crayons. Bricks make an excellent non-standard unit for measuring. Non-standard units are used in the early years to introduce very young children to the concept of measuring, without them having to read any scales. Reading scales of any kind is a challenging skill in itself, so the idea of non-standard measures is to focus the child on the concept of longer, shorter, etc. before they move onto the next step of measuring using standard units.TasksIn pairs, children assemble the set of items, estimate and then measure each in turn, record and compare results.Learning outcomes%u2022 We are learning to measure items using non-standard block units%u2022 We are learning to determine the longest and shortest item in each group using non-standard units%u2022 We are learning to measure items in non-standard units and then compare the measurements to each otherNon-standard units such as bricks can help children understand the concept of length before they later master the skill of accurate measurement using centimetres, metres and kilometres.MaterialsBricks for measuring and pencil/paper for recording. Support children to compare the length of objects that cannot be moved. Use items such as string, wool, or in this case, bricks, to make these comparisons.ProcedureUse questions to guide the children%u2019s thinking. For example:%u2022 We can%u2019t move the sink and the window ledge to compare them. How can we find out which is longer? Let%u2019s use bricks.%u2022 How many bricks long is the sink?%u2022 How many bricks long is the window ledge? %u2022 Which is longer? How do you know?Pick various items around the classroom for indirect comparison and measuring with bricks. Measure and compare a number of items, using non-standard block units. %u2022 How many bricks long is the ruler?%u2022 How many bricks long is the book?%u2022 How many bricks long is your lunch box? Who has the longest lunch box? How do you know?%u2022 How long is the crayon?%u2022 How long is your shoe?%u2022 How long is the seat of your chair?They would need to express what they had learnt verbally with statements such as: The book is shorter than the ruler or the window ledge is longer than the sink. After carrying out a suite of measuring and recording activities around the classroom with the bricks, have the children make estimates and then measure e.g. how many bricks long do you think is the paint tray? Write down your guess. Now measure with bricks and record your answer. How close was your guess?70